nacre
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nacre
1590–1600; < Medieval Latin nacrum, nacer, variant of nacara < Old Italian naccara kind of drum, nacre < Arabic naqqārah drum
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
However, the exact processes and conditions that lead to nacre, a composite of biopolymers and platelets of crystalline calcium carbonate, are the subject of intense debate among experts, and different theories exist.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 12, 2024
Dull on the outside, its nacre gleams pearlescent within.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2021
Some bivalves like oysters and mussels have the unique ability to secrete and deposit a calcareous nacre or “mother of pearl” around foreign particles that enter the mantle cavity.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013
The oyster reacts to the introduction of the foreign body by coating it with layers of nacre - crystallized calcium carbonate and an organic protein.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2012
Out of the nacre of any mussel or oyster shell you might cut, at your pleasure, any quantity of small flat circular disks of the prettiest color and luster.
From Aratra Pentelici, Seven Lectures on the Elements of Sculpture Given before the University of Oxford in Michaelmas Term, 1870 by John Ruskin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
