Pearl

From pearl. As a Chinese river, a translation of Chinese 珠江 (Zhūjiāng, “Pearl River”).

Pearl

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."

2. Various Pearl Rivers, particularly the major river of Guangdong in China.
3. Ellipsis of Pearl Harbor.

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

From English Pearl, from pearl.

Pearl

1. a female given name from English

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Pearl.