money cowrie
noun
See under cowrie.
Origin of money cowrie
First recorded in 1830–40
Words nearby money cowrie
Definition for money cowrie (2 of 2)
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
British Dictionary definitions for money 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