Oyster

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɔɪstə/

Definitions

1. A marine mollusk with two hinged shells, often eaten raw and sometimes containing pearls
2. A bivalve mollusk inhabiting coastal waters, valued as food and occasionally producing lustrous gems within its shell
3. A shellfish dwelling in ocean or brackish environments that secretes nacre and yields edible tissue alongside rare pearls

Etymology: Oysters have been eaten for so long that the word predates English itself as a shared inheritance. Old English "ostre" came from Latin "ostrea", which was borrowed from ancient Greek "óstreon", the name for the shellfish. The same Greek and Latin line also gave English a doublet, "ostro", meaning a purple dye. The two words share a root because the purple dye was made from certain sea snails, so both names trace back to the same shellfish-related stem. The word arrived in English by two routes. Old English "ostre" was passed down from Latin, but after the Norman conquest English speakers also borrowed the French form. Old French "oistre" and "uistre" came from the same Latin "ostrea", and Anglo-Norman "oistre" reinforced the native word. The Middle English form "oystre" eventually replaced the older spelling and gave us the modern word.

Synonyms: mollusk, bivalve