pearl

1. a hard, lustrous spherical mass, typically white or bluish-grey, formed within the shell of a pearl oyster or other bivalve mollusc and highly prized as a gem.

   a linen garment decorated with pearls

   necklaces of amethyst and pearl

   a pair of pearl earrings

2. a person or thing of great rarity and worth.

   these things are pearls amidst the everyday

   every child is a precious pearl and deserves to be treated as such

1. form drops resembling pearls.

   raindrops pearled on water-soaked windowpanes

late Middle English: from Old French perle, perhaps based on Latin perna ‘leg’, extended to denote a leg-of-mutton-shaped bivalve.

noun

another term for picot.