Shell money — Chinese shell money, 16 8th century BCE. Shell money is a medium of exchange that was once common. It consisted either of whole sea shells or pieces of them which were worked into beads or otherwise artificially shaped. The use of shells in trade … Wikipedia
Cowry — Not to be confused with kauri. A print from 1845 shows cowry shells being used as money by an Arab trader. Cowry, also sometimes spelled cowrie, plural cowries, is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod… … Wikipedia
shell — 1. Marine shell. Pūpū (see Haw. Eng. entry and entries that follow it), iwi. Also: ākōlea (pipipi ākōlea, kōlea), ālealea, aoa (maka aoa), apuhihi, āunauna, hailimoa, hau, hīhīwai (hapawai), hūai, kahelelani, kauna oa (kio, una oa), koholua,… … English-Hawaiian dictionary
Cowry — Cowrie Cow rie Cowry Cow ry(kou r[y^]), n.; pl. {Cowries} ( r[i^]z). [Hind. kaur[imac].] (Zo[ o]l.) A marine shell of the genus {Cypr[ae]a}. [1913 Webster] Note: There are numerous species, many of them ornamental. Formerly {Cypr[ae]a moneta} and … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
cowry — n. small sea shell used as money in E Indies. ♦ cowry bird, Indian weaver bird … Dictionary of difficult words
cowry — /ˈkaʊri / (say kowree) noun (plural cowries) 1. the shell of any of the marine gastropods constituting the genus Cypraea, as that of C. moneta, a small shell with a fine gloss, formerly used as money in certain parts of Asia, Africa, and the… …
Cowry — Kaurischnecken Neobernaya spadicea Systematik Klasse: Schnecken (Gastropoda) Überordnung … Deutsch Wikipedia
Mollusc shell — Closed and open shells of a marine bivalve, Petricola pholadiformis. A bivalve shell is composed of two hinged valves which are joined by a ligament … Wikipedia
Gastropod shell — [ 1 umbilicus2 parietal callus3 aperture4 columella5 suture6 whorl7 apex] The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail. It is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment,… … Wikipedia
Porcelain shell — Porcelain Por ce*lain (277), n. [F. porcelaine, It. porcellana, orig., the porcelain shell, or Venus shell (Cypr[ae]a porcellana), from a dim. fr. L. porcus pig, probably from the resemblance of the shell in shape to a pig s back. Porcelain was… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English