cowrie

[ kou-ree ]
/ ˈkaʊ ri /

noun

the highly polished, usually brightly colored shell of a marine gastropod of the genus Cypraea, as that of C. moneta (money cowrie), used as money in certain parts of Asia and Africa, or that of C. tigris, used for ornament.
the gastropod itself.

Origin of cowrie

First recorded in 1655–65, cowrie is from the Hindi word kaurī

Words nearby cowrie

cowperitis, cowpoke, cowpox, cowps, cowpuncher, cowrie, cowrite, cowry, cowshed, cowskin, cowslip

Example sentences from the Web for cowrie

British Dictionary definitions for cowrie

cowrie

cowry

/ (ˈkaʊrɪ) /

noun plural -ries

any marine gastropod mollusc of the mostly tropical family Cypraeidae, having a glossy brightly marked shell with an elongated opening
the shell of any of these molluscs, esp the shell of Cypraea moneta (money cowry), used as money in parts of Africa and S Asia

Word Origin for cowrie

C17: from Hindi kaurī, from Sanskrit kaparda, of Dravidian origin; related to Tamil kōtu shell