Pearle

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A hard, glossy gem grown inside an oyster or other mollusk shell ; an archaic term for a whitish film that forms over the eye and clouds vision
2. A smooth, lustrous bead produced within certain shellfish ; an old name for a cloudy growth on the eye that dims sight
3. A round, shiny gem made in the shell of a mollusk ; a historic word for a milky membrane covering the eyeball and impairing sight

Etymology: The Latin "perna" meant a leg of lamb or haunch of meat, and also a marine bivalve shaped like one. Medieval Latin may have formed "pernula" from it, which would have become the Old French "perle" and then the Middle English "perle." An alternative source is Latin "perula," meaning "little bag," which Medieval Latin may have turned into "perla." The origin remains uncertain. The final-e spelling "pearle" is an older form that has since fallen out of use. In the 1620s, the French printer Jean Jannon issued miniature editions of Virgil, Horace and the New Testament in a tiny type he called "perle," the smallest printed works of his time. Its surfing sense comes from the supposed resemblance of riding a wave to pearl diving.

Synonyms: pearl