oyster
pronunciation
How to pronounce oyster in British English:
UK [ˈɔɪstə(r)]
How to pronounce oyster in American English:
US [ˈɔɪstər]
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- Noun:
- marine mollusks having a rough irregular shell; found on the sea bed mostly in coastal waters
- edible body of any of numerous oysters
- a small muscle on each side of the back of a fowl
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- Verb:
- gather oysters, dig oysters
Word Origin
- oyster
- oyster: [14] The Greek word for ‘oyster’ was óstreon – etymologically an allusion to its shell. It came from a prehistoric Indo-European base *ost- denoting ‘bone’, which also produced Greek ostéon ‘bone’ (source of the English prefix osteo-), ostakós ‘crustacean’, and óstrakon ‘shell, piece of broken pottery’ (source of English ostracism). Óstreon passed into Latin as ostrea, and from there came by way of Old French oistre into English as oyster.=> osteo
- oyster (n.)
- early 14c., from Old French oistre (Modern French huître), from Latin ostrea, plural or fem. of ostreum "oyster," from Greek ostreon, from PIE *ost- "bone" (see osseous). Related to Greek ostrakon "hard shell" and to osteon "bone."Why then the world's mine Oyster, which I, with sword will open. [Shakespeare, "The Merry Wives of Windsor," II.ii.2]
Example
- 1. He was a bold man who first eat an oyster .
- 2. Gogol at first turns his back on his immigrant family , finding it much more glamorous to hang out with his girlfriend 's family in manhattan and oyster bay , before rediscovering his bengali roots when his father dies .
- 3. Then there are the oyster beds .
- 4. Rice dumplings and oyster omelets are the city 's signature dishes .
- 5. All art is autobiographical . The pearl is the oyster 's autobiography .