perla

• perlla

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

perla f (plural perles)

1. pearl (rounded shelly concretion produced by certain mollusks)

Unknown, probably based on Vulgar Latin *pernula, diminutive of Latin perna, a kind of oyster. Cognate with Italian perla, French perle and Spanish perla.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈpɛr.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈpɛɾ.la]

• Audio:

  (file)

perla f (plural perles)

1. pearl
2. (heraldry) pall

• perlé

• “perla”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Inherited from Spanish perla (“pearl”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeɾla/, [ˈpeɾ.la]
• Hyphenation: per‧la

perla

1. alternative form of perlas

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɛrla]

perla f (relational adjective perlový)

1. pearl (rounded shelly concretion produced by certain mollusks)

• “perla”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “perla”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “perla”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

• lepra
• raple

From Latin perla.

perla f (genitive singular perlu, plural perlur)

1. pearl (rounded shelly concretion produced by certain mollusks)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: perlas, perlât

perla

1. third-person singular past historic of perler

From Old Norse perla, a borrowing from Middle Low German perle, from Old Saxon perula, from Medieval Latin perla.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpʰɛrtla/
• Rhymes: -ɛrtla

perla f (genitive singular perlu, nominative plural perlur)

1. pearl

• perluvinir

• gull af manni

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

perla (plural perlas)

1. pearl

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛr.la/
• Rhymes: -ɛrla
• Hyphenation: pèr‧la

Uncertain. See pearl.

perla f (plural perle)

1. (also figurative) pearl
2. pill
3. mistake

perla (invariable)

1. (relational) pearl

• pastiglia
• pillola
• castroneria
• sfondone

Borrowed from French perle, the name given by Jean Jannon to the type used in his miniature editions of Vergil, Horace, & the New Testament in the 1620s, which were the smallest printed works to his time.

perla f (invariable)

1. (printing, dated) a small size of type, standardized as 4 point

• lepra

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpɛr.ɫa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpɛr.la]

perla f (genitive perlae); first declension

1. alternative form of perula
   • 1272, an unknown source in The Natural History of Precious Stones and of the Precious Metals (1867), viii, page 269:

     Una Perla ad modum camahuti.

     A pearl in the manner of a cameo.

First-declension noun.

• Jan Frederik Niermeyer, Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus : Lexique Latin Médiéval–Français/Anglais : A Medieval Latin–French/English Dictionary, fascicle I (1976), page 789/1, “perla”

• perlen

perla m or f

1. definite feminine singular of perle

perla f

1. definite singular of perle

• Hyphenation: per‧la

perla f (plural perlas)

1. (heraldry) pall

Borrowed from French perler.

a perla (third-person singular present perlează, past participle perlat) 1st conjugation

1. to bead

Borrowed from German Perle.

• IPA^(key): /pêːrla/
• Hyphenation: per‧la

pȇrla f (Cyrillic spelling пе̑рла)

1. pearl
2. bead

Derived from Latin perla.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛrɫa/

perla f (genitive singular perly, nominative plural perly, genitive plural perál, periel, declension pattern of žena)

1. pearl (rounded shelly concretion produced by certain mollusks)

• perlový
• perlička

• “perla”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeɾla/ [ˈpeɾ.la]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾla
• Syllabification: per‧la

Unknown, but cognate with Italian perla, French perle and Portuguese pérola. See pearl. The usual Latin word for a pearl was margarīta.

perla f (plural perlas)

1. pearl
2. bead
3. (heraldry) pall

• Chavacano: perla, perlas
• → Basque: perla
• → Ilocano: perlas

Borrowed from French perle, the name given by Jean Jannon to the type used in his miniature editions of Vergil, Horace, & the New Testament in the 1620s, which were the smallest printed works to his time.

perla f (uncountable)

1. (printing, dated) a small size of type, standardized as 4 or 5 point

   Synonym: parisienne

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

perla

1. inflection of perlar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “perla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

• pelar, rapel