Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A unit of surface used in Hindustan, equal to a square yard.
- noun The popular name of Cypræa moneta, a small yellowish-white shell with a fine gloss, used by various peoples as money.
- noun In general, any shell of the genus Cypræa or family Cypræidæ.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of the marine
molluscs of the genus Cypraea. - noun The
money cowry , Cypraea moneta.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of numerous tropical marine gastropods of the genus Cypraea having highly polished usually brightly marked shells
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Hence, the devaluation of the cowry was a logical result.
Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008
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The idea that the cowry was the giver of life and the parent of men was also transferred to crude stone imitations of the shell.
The Evolution of the Dragon G. Elliot Smith
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In 1411, Sien, the native chieftain of Xichidian, asked to use silver to pay taxes of 79,800 suo of cowries that had to be purchased from Lin'an. 61 Since cowries circulated in large numbers, a kind of cowry bank (bahang) emerged.
Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008
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As it is manifestly impossible to derive the word "cowry" from the Greek word for "pig," the only explanation that will stand examination is that the two meanings must have been acquired from the identification of both the cowry and the pig with the Great
The Evolution of the Dragon G. Elliot Smith
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I'd pop over the road to Mother India cafe and smell the food, which I still believe to be a free activity.www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museumsThere's a beach called New Polzeath in Cornwall where you can wade out, go under a peak and get to a little secret beach where you can pick cowry shells.
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But it is an elaborate and highly decorated object, ornamented and beautified with cowry shells.
Eliza’s Freedom Road Jerdine Nolen 2011
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But it is an elaborate and highly decorated object, ornamented and beautified with cowry shells.
Eliza’s Freedom Road Jerdine Nolen 2011
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But it is an elaborate and highly decorated object, ornamented and beautified with cowry shells.
Eliza’s Freedom Road Jerdine Nolen 2011
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But it is an elaborate and highly decorated object, ornamented and beautified with cowry shells.
Eliza’s Freedom Road Jerdine Nolen 2011
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I'd pop over the road to Mother India cafe and smell the food, which I still believe to be a free activity.www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museumsThere's a beach called New Polzeath in Cornwall where you can wade out, go under a peak and get to a little secret beach where you can pick cowry shells.
mollusque commented on the word cowry
Variant spelling of cowrie.
November 18, 2007