nacre
/ˈneɪkə
/noun [mass noun]
Mother-of-pearl.The nacre, or mother of pearl, is the innermost layer, which is composed of thin, alternating, laminae (flakes or sheets) of calcium carbonate and an organic material....
- The oyster coats the sand grain with a silvery shiny layer called nacre.
- Now, researchers have designed a synthetic material that mimics both nacre's internal architecture and its strength.
Derivatives
nacreous
/ adjective ...- The dorsal ligament groove is overlain dorsally and flanked laterally by the nacreous middle shell layer.
- They suggested that this species is similar in microstructure to modern unionid bivalves, which are externally prismatic and internally nacreous.
- The distressed surfaces, with their flinty earth tones, cobalt blues and nacreous whites, hold light like rough alabaster.
Origin
Late 16th century: French, from late Latin nacchara, nacara, perhaps from Arabic.
Rhymes
- oligolectic
- oligolege
- oligomenorrhea
- oligomenorrheic
- oligomenorrhoea
- oligomenorrhoeal
- oligomenorrhoeic
- oligomer
- oligomerise
- oligomerization
- oligomerize
- oligomerous
- oligomery
- oligomictic
- oligomycin
- oligonucleotide
- oligopeptide
- oligophage
- oligophagous
- oligophagy
- oligophrenia
- oligophyllous
- oligopod
- oligopolist
- oligopolistic