nacre

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the hard, smooth, iridescent substance lining many mollusc shells and forming the outer coating of pearls

   The box was inlaid with shimmering pieces of nacre.

2. 2
   noun

   the pearly colour or lustre characteristic of that shell material

   The evening sky had a pale nacre beneath the violet clouds.

Borrowed from French nacre, 'mother-of-pearl,' through Medieval Latin from an Arabic word for a drum or shell. The material sense developed naturally into literary use for a soft, iridescent pearly colour or sheen.

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