nopalry

no·pal·ry
N1O1P3A1L1R1Y4
UK/ˈnəʊp(ə)lɹi/US/ˈnoʊpəlri/

A form of nopalery — A plantation of nopal (a prickly pear cactus of the genus Opuntia, especially Opuntia cochinellifera) used as food for the cochineal insect (Dactylopius coccus), which is raised to produce carmine dye.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

nounnopalry (plural nopalries)

plural nopalries

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of nopalery.

    This ſpecies [the wild cochineal] multiplies more readily, ſpreads further and faſter without any aſſiſtance; ſo that a nopalry is ſoon covered with them.

    1783, [Guillaume Thomas François] Raynal, “Of the Culture of the Cochineal”, in J[ohn] O[badiah] Justamond, transl., A Philosophical and Political History of the Settlements and Trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies. […], new edition, volume III, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], book VI (Discovery of America. Conquest of Mexico; and Settlements of the Spaniards in that Part of the New World), page 354
    2 more examples

    The cochineal industry spread rapidly, plantations called nopalries arising in such diverse regions as Spain, India, Algeria, South Africa, Jamaica, and the Canary Islands.

    1945, “Cochineal Cactus”, in Journal of the New York Botanical Garden, volume 46, New York, N.Y.: New York Botanical Garden, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 84, column 2

    This was another experimental garden started under Dr. Berry as a ‘Nopalry’ or place for the rearing of the cochineal insect on cacti, which however, became a sort of experimental garden where exotic plants were received as they arrived in the Port of Madras and were nursed and looked after until they could be despatched to the interior stations.

    1960, A. K. Yegna Narayan Aiyer, P. Abraham, Cultivation of Cloves in India (I.C.A.R. Bulletin), New Delhi: Indian Council of Agricultural Research, →OCLC, page 5

Origin

From nopal + -ry (variant of -ery), a variant of nopalery.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

nopalry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nopalry

MLA

“nopalry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nopalry. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nopalry,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nopalry.

Source: nopalry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.