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
With evening, the horizon assumes tints of inexpressible sweetness,—pearl-lights, opaline colors of milk and fire; and in the west are topaz-glowings and wondrous flushings as of nacre.
From Chita: a Memory of Last Island by Hearn, Lafcadio
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.
