pearl

UK/pɜːl/US/pɝl/

pearl noun: nacre; mother-of-pearl. Also the ellipsis of pearl tapioca.

Image: Flickr.com user "tanakawho", CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

pearl (countable and uncountable, plural pearls)

(literally) Nacre; mother-of-pearl.
(broadly, literally) A white color inspired by the shade of pearls.
(figuratively) Something precious.
- I see thee compassed with thy kingdom's pearl.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Hugh helped himself to bacon. "My dear fellow, she can think what she likes so long as she continues to grill bacon like this. Your wife is a treasure, James—a pearl amongst women; and you can tell her so with my love."1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond
A capsule of gelatin or similar substance containing liquid for, e.g., medicinal application.
A whitish speck or film on the eye.
- Boast not of your eyes; it is feared you have Balaam's disease, a pearl in your eye, Mammon's prestriction.1641, John Milton, Animadversions upon The Remonstrants Defence Against Smectymnuus, Section III
A fish allied to the turbot; the brill.
A light-colored tern.
One of the circle of tubercles which form the bur on a deer's antler.
A fringe or border.
(figuratively) A valuable little nugget of information; especially, an aphorism or tip that is operationally useful for decision-making.
- clinical pearls
(euphemistic, figuratively, slang, vulgar) The clitoris.
- My mouth and tongue finally find her pearl. Her clitoris.2010, Richard Knight, Simple Fantasies Can Come True, page 10
- Teasing her pearl she shakes in my arms, rolling her eyes and throwing the pussy at me.2012, Danie Baly, Born with a Curse: Secret Fantasies
Argent, in blazoning by precious stones.
- Errol. Pearl three Escutcheons Ruby. / Elgin. Topaz a Saltier and Chief Ruby, on a Canton Pearl a Lyon Rampant Saphyr, which last is their paternal Coat; and the Field Topaz, and Saltier, and Chief Ruby, was the Arms of King Robert the Bruce, they altering the Field from Pearl (as he bore it) to...1720, Francis Nichols, Rudiments of Honour, page 296
- The Field is Ruby, on a Bend Topaz, three Martlets Diamond. The Armes of the most Noble and Puissant Lord, Edward Brabazon, Earl of Meath, and Baron of Atherdee in the Kingdom of Ireland. His Lordship's Atchievements are Quarterly of sixteen Coats. 1. Brabazon, as above. 2. Diamond, on a Chevron...1726, John Guillim, The Banner Display'd; Or, an Abridgment of Guillim, page 504
(dated, uncountable) The size of type between diamond and agate, standardized as 5-point.
(obsolete) A jewel or gem.
- There is gold, and multitude of pearles: but a precious vessel the lips of knowledge.1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Laurence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Prouerbes 20:15

Verb

pearl (third-person singular simple present pearls, present participle pearling, simple past and past participle pearled)

(figuratively, sometimes, transitive) To set or adorn with pearls, or with mother-of-pearl.
- Syed Omar began to walk to the airport. Sweat pearled his tough brown skin, his fat bounced in rhythm.1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 600
(transitive) To cause to resemble pearls in shape; to make into small round grains.
- to pearl barley
(transitive) To cause to resemble pearls in lustre or iridescence.
- A Teaching Company Scheme developing new technology for pearling light bulbs was established in October […]1993, New Scientist, volume 139, page 62
(intransitive) To resemble pearl or pearls.
(intransitive) To bead; to form droplets.
- I'm left here with the memory of all their shining words, like drops of water pearling on the window-pane2007, Angela Patten, Reliquaries, Salmon Publishing, →ISBN, page 5
- Blood pearled on the blade, its aroma filling the air.2011 September 1, Kristen Painter, Blood Rights: House of Comarré: Book 1, Hachette UK, →ISBN
(intransitive) To hunt for pearls
- to go pearling
(intransitive) To sink the nose of one's surfboard into the water, often on takeoff.
- Used a pointed tip today and learned why I kept pearling with my round tipped board. Round noses like to dig into the water, causing frustrating wipeouts.1999, Joanne VanMeter https://web.archive.org/web/20071027111258/http://www.letsplay.net/archive99/020399.shtml
(intransitive) Of the nose of the surfboard: to sink in this manner.
- He couldn't even turn the board or raise the nose. Consequently, the board pearled, nose-dived into the water, throwing Lee off almost like being thrown from a horse. But he persisted.2017, Jian, Sh-Boom: The Way of the World
(intransitive) Of aquatic plants: to produce visible bubbles on the stems and leaves during photosynthesis, usually in a simulated environment like an aquarium.
To use an ender pearl to teleport by throwing it.

Proper noun capitalized: Pearl

Pearl (countable and uncountable, plural Pearls)

A female given name from English.
- Her Pearl!—For so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant "Pearl," as being of great price,—purchased with all she had,—her mother's only treasure!1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Chapter VI”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC
- "What was your name?"
  "Pearl." Ruby and Pearl, mother and daughter. "It's an ugly name, isn't it?"
  "No, it isn't". And I meant it, it wasn't. "Old-fashioned, perhaps, but nice."
  She stared at me. "Do you know what pearls are? They're ugliness: dirt or sand gets in an oyster and the oyster coats it...1992, Karen Kijewski, Kat's Cradle, page 7
(rare) A male given name from English.
A surname from English.
A major river in Guangdong, China; in full, the Pearl River.
- The only news of interest brought by the Calcutta and China mail is that the river Pearl, in Southern China, had been explored by a party of the British to the distance of 195 miles.1859 April 30, “Review of the Week.”, in The Leader, volume X, number 475, page 547, column 3
- During these ten years the northern province of Chihli, with a population of over 32,000,000, has been inundated thrice; the Huai River running through three central provinces, with people more in number than half those of the United States, overflowed twice; the two provinces of Hunan and Kiangsi...1928 April, M. T. Liang, “Combatting the Famine Dragon”, in News Bulletin, Institute of Pacific Relations, page 9
(abbreviation) Short for Pearl River (Etymology 2): a river in Mississippi and Louisiana, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico,
(abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Pearl Harbor: a harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, United States, in the Pacific Ocean.

Also used as

pearl is also the ellipsis of pearl tapioca.

pearl meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

pearl in Hindi

rounded shelly concretion produced by certain mollusks: मोती motī, मुक्ता muktā

pearl in Tamil

rounded shelly concretion produced by certain mollusks: முத்து muttu
figuratively: something precious: முத்து muttu

pearl in Urdu

rounded shelly concretion produced by certain mollusks: موتی motī, مَروارِید marvārīd, گَوہَر gauhar

More languagesFewer languages

pearl in Bengali: মুক্তা mukta
pearl in Telugu: ముత్యం mutyaṁ
pearl in Malayalam: മുത്ത് muttŭ
pearl in Punjabi: ਮੋਤੀ motī
pearl in Gujarati: મોતી
pearl in Sanskrit: मुक्ता muktā
pearl in Sinhala: මුතු mutu
pearl in Nepali: मोती motī
pearl in Pashto: مرغلره
pearl in Tagalog: perlas
pearl in Arabic: لُؤْلُؤَة luʔluʔa, لُؤْلُؤ luʔluʔ, جَوْهَر jawhar
pearl in Malay: mutiara
pearl in Indonesian: mutiara
pearl in Thai: ไข่มุก kài-múk, มุก múk, มุกดา múk-daa
pearl in Vietnamese: ngọc trai, trân châu
pearl in Myanmar: ပုလဲ pu.lai:

Examples of pearl in a sentence

Diamond, on a Chevron between three Pickaxes Pearl, as many Mullets Ruby, by the Name of Mosley. 3.1726, John Guillim, The Banner Display'd; Or, an Abridgment of Guillim, page 504:
(1) Pearl, a Cross, Ruby, with the Effigies of our Saviour thereon, Topaz, born in Memory of one of the Family's fighting against the Turks.1754, John Lodge, The Peerage of Ireland; Or, a Genealogical History of the ..., page 71:
The fluid pearled but didn't run, and it stung in the saltwater.2022 May 9, Lori Power, Backlash Bounty, The Wild Rose Press Inc, →ISBN:

All 40 example sentences with pearl

Synonyms of pearl

margarite

Forms of pearl

Noun
plural	pearls
Verb
third-person singular present	pearls
present participle	pearling
past participle	pearled
past	pearled
Proper noun
plural	Pearls

Plural of pearl: pearls

Origin of pearl

Inherited from Middle English perle, from Old French perle of uncertain etymology. Probably via unattested Medieval Latin *pernula, from Latin perna (“haunch; a marine bivalve shaped like a leg of lamb”) but also derived from Medieval Latin perla, from Latin perula (“little bag”). Its typographic use follows the name given by Jean Jannon to the type used in his miniature editions of Vergil, Horace, & the New Testament in the 1620s, which were the smallest printed works to his time. Its surfing use derives from the supposed resemblance to pearl diving.

From pearl. * (river in China): From Chinese 珠江 (Zhūjiāng, Zyu1 Gong1, “Pearl River”); calque of Chinese 珠 (zhū, zyu1, “pearl”). * (haven in Hawaii): From Hawaiian Wai Momi (“pearl water”); calque of Hawaiian momi (“pearl”).

Words formed from pearl

Phrases with pearl

47 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with pearl

25 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about pearl

What does pearl mean?: Pearl means nacre; mother-of-pearl.
What is pearl in Hindi?: Pearl in Hindi is मोती (motī), मुक्ता (muktā). See Pearl meaning in Hindi.
How do you use pearl in a sentence?: Diamond, on a Chevron between three Pickaxes Pearl, as many Mullets Ruby, by the Name of Mosley. 3.
What part of speech is pearl?: Pearl can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce pearl?: Pearl is pronounced /pɜːl/ (UK).
What is the plural of pearl?: The plural of pearl is pearls.

Words near pearl in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: pearl (page history and authors); Pearl (page history and authors); pearl (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pearl (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-pearl.ogg.

Cite this entry: “pearl.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pearl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.