Pearl

See also: pearl

English

Etymology

From pearl.

• (river in China): From Chinese 珠江 (Zhūjiāng, Zyu1 Gong1, “Pearl River”); calque of Chinese 珠 (zhū, zyu1, “pearl”).
• (haven in Hawaii): From Hawaiian Wai Momi (“pearl water”); calque of Hawaiian momi (“pearl”).

Proper noun

Pearl (countable and uncountable, plural Pearls)

1. A unisex given name from English.
   1. A female given name from English.
   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Chapter VI”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:

     Her Pearl!—For so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant "Pearl," as being of great price,—purchased with all she had,—her mother's only treasure!

   • 1992, Karen Kijewski, Kat's Cradle, page 7:

     "What was your name?"
     "Pearl." Ruby and Pearl, mother and daughter. "It's an ugly name, isn't it?"
     "No, it isn't". And I meant it, it wasn't. "Old-fashioned, perhaps, but nice."
     She stared at me. "Do you know what pearls are? They're ugliness: dirt or sand gets in an oyster and the oyster coats it over so that it won't be irritating."

   1. (rare) A male given name from English.
2. A surname from English.
3. A placename:
   1. (with the) Ellipsis of Pearl River: various Pearl Rivers across the world.
      1. Particularly, the river in Guangdong, China, the major river of Canton Province, China.
         • 1928 April, M. T. Liang, “Combatting the Famine Dragon”, in News Bulletin‎^[1], Institute of Pacific Relations, page 9:

           During these ten years the northern province of Chihli, with a population of over 32,000,000, has been inundated thrice; the Huai River running through three central provinces, with people more in number than half those of the United States, overflowed twice; the two provinces of Hunan and Kiangsi, south of the Yangtsze River, likewise densely populated, have also been inundated twice, and Shantung Province, with its teeming millions, has had its territory flooded from the outbreak of the Yellow River; while the southern rivers, the Pearl in Kwangtung Province, the Min in Fukien Province, and other streams have, during the period, more than once contributed their toll of destruction.

         • 2021, John Reibetanz, Earth Words: Coversing with Three Sages‎^[2], →ISBN, →OCLC, page [3]:

           The Pearl is a river system in southern China.

   2. Ellipsis of Pearl Harbor: a harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, United States, in the Pacific.

Further reading

• Pearl (given name) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Pearl (surname) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Pearl (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• APLer, Alper, lepra, paler, parle, repla

Cebuano

Etymology

From English Pearl, from pearl.

Proper noun

Pearl

1. a female given name from English

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Pearl.

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English Pearl, from pearl.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɾl/ [ˈpəɹl]
• Rhymes: -eɾl

Proper noun

Pearl (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜒᜇ᜔ᜎ᜔)

1. a female given name from English