cowrie

English

a cowrie (Monetaria moneta)

cowrie shells

a cowrie

Alternative forms

• cowry, kauri

Etymology

Mid-17th century, borrowed from Hindi कौड़ी (kauṛī).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaʊ.ɹi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊɹi

Noun

cowrie (plural cowries)

1. A small gastropod (Monetaria moneta, syn. Cypraea moneta) common in the Indian Ocean; its shell.
2. (by extension, dated) Any gastropod of the genus Cypraea; its shell.
3. (by extension) Any gastropod of the family Cypraeidae; its shell.

Synonyms

• (Monetaria moneta): money cowrie
• (shell of M. moneta): shell money, wampum

Derived terms

• bean cowrie (Trivia merces)
• kernel cowrie (Nucleolaria nucleus)
• measled cowrie (Macrocypaea zebra)
• money cowrie (Monetaria moneta, syn. Cypraea moneta)
• nucleus cowrie (Nucleolaria nucleus)
• panther cowrie (Cypraea pantherina)
• ring cowrie (Monetaria annulus, syn. Cypraea annulus)
• tiger cowrie (Cypraea tigris)
• turtle cowrie (Chelycypraea testudinaria, syn. Cypraea testudinaria)
• wrinkled cowrie (Nucleolaria nucleus)

Translations

C. moneta

• Bikol Central: buskay (bcl)
• Czech: zavinutec penízkový
• Dutch: geldkauri (nl)
• Finnish: kaurikotilo (fi)
• French: cauri (fr) m
• Hindi: कौड़ी f (kauṛī)
• Nepali: कौडी (ne) (kauḍī)
• Romanian: ghioc (ro)

any member of the genus Cypraea

• Arabic: ودع (ar)
• Bengali: কড়ি (bn) (koṛi)
• Bikol Central: buskay (bcl)
• Catalan: cauri m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 寶貝／宝贝 (zh) (bǎobèi)

• Czech: kauri, zavinutec m
• Dutch: kauri (nl)
• Erzya: ёлдарав (joldarav)
• Finnish: posliinikotilo
• French: cauri (fr) m, porcelaine (fr) f
• German: Kaurischnecke f, Kaurimuschel (de) f, Kauri (de) m or f
• Hindi: कौड़ी f (kauṛī)
• Irish: fínicín m
• Italian: ciprea f
• Japanese: タカラガイ (takaragai), 宝貝 (takaragai)
• Kannada: ಕವಡೆ (kn) (kavaḍe)
• Norwegian: kauriskjell

  Nynorsk: kauri

• Odia: କଉଡ଼ି (or) (kauṛi)
• Polish: kauri (pl)
• Portuguese: búzio (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਕੌਡੀ (kauḍī)
• Romanian: dioc
• Russian: ка́ури (ru) m or n (káuri)
• Spanish: cauri m
• Swahili: kauri
• Swedish: kaurisnäckor
• Tamil: சோகி (ta) (cōki)
• Waray-Waray: buskay

References

• cowrie on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Cypraeidae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• “cowrie | cowry, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1893.

Anagrams

• cowier