nacre

Etymology

From Middle French nacre, from Medieval Latin nacchara, from Arabic نَقَّارَة (naqqāra). Doublet of nagara. Also present in nacarat.

noun

1. (obsolete) A shellfish which contains mother-of-pearl.
2. A pearly substance which lines the interior of many shells; mother-of-pearl.
   On a little table of dark perfumed wood thickly encrusted with nacre, […]was lying a note from Lord Henry, and beside it was a book bound in yellow paper, the cover slightly torn and the edges soiled. 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray