seed pearl
1
6.5
- noun
- /siːd pɜrl/
- Specialized
:
perla semilla
- Sooty seed pearls shone in the glare of the still-braying television set.
- tiny seed pearls
Examples
-
She wore jet jewelry discreetly set with seed pearls at her ears and throat, and there was a glow to her skin, a faint flush.
Fiction book (1993) -
" I emerge to see Mrs. Arcangelo sketching in air; she's got a cap of feathers, each feather's threaded on separately with a seed pearl at the base..."
Fiction book (1990) -
Are those seed pearls?
-
"It stooped to pluck at the seed pearl string, still wrapped tightly around his hand.
Fiction book (2000) -
Blackened seed pearls on a string poured from its clumsy fingers, one badly cut blue stone dangling in their midst.
Fiction book (2000) -
You have freshwater pearls, seed pearls, mabe pearls, baroque pearls, South Sea pearls.
-
Beside him stood Rosemary, slim and erect in her white outfit, her veil pinned back, flowers and seed pearls gleaming in the silk and lace of her dress.
Fiction book (2000) -
The necklace was beautiful, adorned with shimmering seed pearls that added a delicate touch to the design.
-
She carefully arranged the seed pearls into clusters on the bracelet to create an elegant and timeless look.
-
The dress was decorated with a row of tiny seed pearls that sparkled under the light, enhancing its vintage charm.
Synonyms
119
2.3
A smooth hard round jewel made inside an oyster
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound simply denotes a very small pearl, so a B1 learner who knows 'seed' (a small part) and 'pearl' (a gem) can infer 'seed pearl' as a tiny or seed-sized pearl. This noun–noun composition and the metaphorical use of 'seed' to indicate smallness is regular and cross-linguistically common, making the meaning directly derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Seed pearl comes from the tiny size of these pearls. They look like little seeds when set beside larger pearls or sewn onto clothes, so the name means 'a very small pearl' often used in jewelry.