Meaning and Origin
What does the name Pearl mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
User Submitted Origins
User Submitted Meanings
- A user from Nigeria says the name Pearl is of English origin and means "A PRECIOUS STONE/A PRECIOUS BEAD".
- According to a user from South Africa, the name Pearl means "something valuable and precious".
- A submission from the United States says the name Pearl means "Precious stone".
- According to a user from Nigeria, the name Pearl is of Canadian origin and means "Something precious".
- According to a user from Australia, the name Pearl is of English origin and means "Smooth round beads formed by mollusk".
- A submission from South Africa says the name Pearl means "Beautiful flower" and is of African origin.
- A user from New Jersey, U.S. says the name Pearl means "Symbol of knowledge".
- A user from Missouri, U.S. says the name Pearl means "innocence and modesty".
- [Zoöl] A shelly concretion, usually rounded, and having a brilliant luster, with varying tints, found in the mantle, or between the mantle and shell, of certain bivalve mollusks, especially in the pearl oysters and river mussels, and sometimes in certain univalves. It is usually due to a secretion of shelly substance around some irritating foreign particle. Its substance is the same as nacre, or mother-of-pearl.
- Hence, figuratively, something resembling a pearl; something very precious."I see thee compassed with thy kingdom's pearl." [Shak.]"And those pearls of dew she wears." [Milton.]
- Nacre, or mother-of-pearl.
- [Zoöl] A fish allied to the turbot; the brill.
- [Zoöl] A light-colored tern.
- [Zoöl] One of the circle of tubercles which form the bur on a deer's antler.
- A whitish speck or film on the eye.(Obs)
- A capsule of gelatin or similar substance containing some liquid for medicinal application, as ether.
- [Print] A size of type, between agate and diamond. pearl pearl
Note: Pearls which are round, or nearly round, and of fine luster, are highly esteemed as jewels, and at one time compared in value with the precious stones. Since development of cultured pearls, the relative value has diminished somewhat, though the best pearls are still expensive, and natural pearls even more so. Artificial pearls may be made of various materials, including material similar to that of natural pearls; these are less expensive than natural or cultured pearls. See cultured pearl, below.
Etymology: OE. perle, F. perle, LL. perla perula, probably fr. (assumed) L. pirulo, dim. of L. pirum a pear. See Pear, and cf. Purl to mantle
- To set or adorn with pearls, or with mother-of-pearl. Used also figuratively.
- To cause to resemble pearls; to make into small round grains; as, to pearl barley.
- To resemble pearl or pearls.
- To dive or hunt for pearls; as, to go pearling .
- A shade of white the color of bleached bones
- A smooth lustrous round structure inside the shell of a clam or oyster; much valued as a jewel
- A shape that is spherical and small
- Gather pearls, from oysters in the ocean
From pearl. As a Chinese river, a translation of Chinese 珠江 (Zhūjiāng, “Pearl River”).
- A female given name from English
- (geography) Various Pearl Rivers, particularly the major river of Guangdong in China.
Pearl was also found in the following language(s): Cebuano