nacre
(ˈneɪkə(r))
Also 6 nackre, 7 nacker, nakre, 7–9 naker.
[a. F. nacre, † nacle (1416; cf. med.L. nacrum, 1347 in Du Cange) = Sp. and Pg. nacar, It. nacchera, † naccara, med.L. nacchara, nacara (1295 in Du Cange), of uncertain, but prob. Oriental, origin.]
1. The pinna or sea-pen, or other shell-fish yielding mother-of-pearl.
| 1598 Florio, Naccare{ddd}Also the shell-fish which some call a nackre. 1601 Holland Pliny ix. xlii. I. 261 The Nacre also called Pinnæ, is of the kind of Shell-fishes. It is..never without a companion,..which beareth the Nacre companie. 1658 Hoole tr. Comenius' Orb. Sensual. (ed. 12) 46 The Oyster affordeth sweet meat,..the Naker, pearls. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 162 Every one of these Barks hath Men for Diving to the bottom of the Sea and picking up the Shell-fish or Nacres. 1727 Philip Quarll 188 Polishing the Rest of his Shells, some, as fine as tho' they had been Nakers of Pearl. 1777 Pennant Brit. Zool. IV. 97 Pinna, nacre; its animal a Slug. 1834 Good Bk. Nature II. 17 Among the more elegant of this division is the nacre, pinna, or sea-pen. |
| attrib. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iii. (Lawe) 699 Tis a Valley paved (else) With golden sands, with Pearle, and Nacre-shels. |
2. A smooth, shining, iridescent substance forming the inner layer in many shells; mother-of-pearl.
| 1718 Ozell tr. Tournefort's Voy. I. 178 It is a shining Naker within. 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 32 Orient, the fine naker, or mother of pearle colour, which is seen on some shells. 1799 Hatchett in Phil. Trans. LXXXIX. 316 Of the shells composed of nacre or mother of pearl, I selected the oyster. 1811 Pinkerton Petral. I. 414 These exquisite colours arise from the laminar naker, or what is commonly called mother-of-pearl, of a kind of nautilus. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. iv. xxii. 510 The iridescent nacre of the shell was used in this way. 1888 Contemp. Rev. May 690 A fine pearl is worth from one to eight pounds sterling a grain according to size, colour, and ‘nacre’. |
| attrib. 1895 C. Holland Jap. Wife 61 A flat shell, with lovely mother-of-pearl tints on its nacre hollow. |
Hence
ˈnacred a., faced with, having the hues of, nacre;
ˈnacreness, the qualities of nacre.
| 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 82 This shell..is finely nakered within. 1845 Macgillivray Conchol. Text-bk. 224 Nacred, pearly, perlaceous. 1862 F. Hall Hindu Philos. Syst. 169 Cognizing nacreness as the abstract nature of the thing beheld. |