oyster

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oyster on Wikipedia

Contents

1 English

English[edit]

An oyster (bivalve of family Ostreidae), Ostrea edulis

Alternative forms[edit]

oystre (obsolete)
erster (New York City and New Orleans)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon).

Pronunciation[edit]

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɪ.stə(ɹ)/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɪ.stɚ/
Rhymes: -ɔɪstə(ɹ)
Audio (US)
(file)

Noun[edit]

oyster (plural oysters)

Any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers.
- 1597-8, William Shakespeare, “Act II, Scene II”, in The Merry Wives of Windsor:
  Why, then the world's mine oyster
- 1731, Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation, 1841, The Works of Jonathan Swift, Volume 2, page 344,
  He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.
The delicate morsel of dark meat contained in a small cavity of the bone on each side of the lower part of the back of a fowl.
A pale beige color tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.
oyster colour:
(colloquial, by analogy) A person who keeps secrets.
(Britain, slang) A shoplifter.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

mollusk — See also translations at clam,‎ mollusc,‎ mussel

Abenaki: als
Afrikaans: oester
Albanian: stridhe f
Arabic: مَحَار‎‎ m (maḥār)
Hijazi Arabic: مَحَار‎‎ m pl (maḥār)
Armenian: ոստրե (hy) (ostre)
Azerbaijani: istridyə
Belarusian: ву́стрыца f (vústryca)
Bengali: ঝিনুক (jhinuk)
Bulgarian: стри́да (bg) f (strída)
Burmese: ကမာ (my) (ka.ma)
Catalan: ostra (ca) f
Central Melanau: tirem
Chinese:
Mandarin: 牡蠣 (zh), 牡蛎 (zh) (mǔlì), 海蠣子, 海蛎子 (hǎilìzi), 蠔子, 蚝子 (háozi), 蠔 (zh), 蚝 (zh) (háo)
Cornish: estren f
Czech: ústřice f
Danish: østers c
Dutch: oester (nl) m, n
Esperanto: ostro
Estonian: auster
Finnish: osteri (fi)
French: huître (fr) f, huitre (fr) f (post-1990 spelling)
Georgian: ხამანწკა (xamanc̣ḳa)
German: Auster (de) f
Greek: στρείδι (el) n (streídi)
Ancient Greek: ὄστρειον n (óstreion), τῆθος n (têthos), γλυκομαρίς f (glukomarís)
Hawaiian: kio
Hebrew: צִדפָּה‎‎
Hindi: सीप (hi) (sīp), शुक्ति (hi) f (śukti)
Hungarian: osztriga (hu)
Icelandic: ostra (is) f
Indonesian: tiram (id)
Irish: oisre (ga) m
Italian: ostrica (it) f
Japanese: 牡蠣 (ja) (かき, kaki), カキ (ja) (kaki), 真珠貝 (しんじゅがい, shinjugai)
Kazakh: устрица (wstrïca)
Khmer: ខ្យងស្មិត (kyɑɑng smǝt), ងាវ (km) (ngiev), ងាវសមុទ្រ (ngiev samot)
Kimaragang: kubili
Korean: 굴 (ko) (gul)
Kyrgyz: устрица (ustritsa)
Lao: ຫອຍນາງລົມ (hǭi nāng lom), ຫອຽນາງລົມ (hǭi nāng lom)
Latin: ostrea f

Latvian: austere f
Lithuanian: austrė (lt) f
Macedonian: острига f (ostriga)
Malagasy: masajy (mg)
Malay: tiram
Manx: ooastyr m
Maori: tio (mi)
Mi'kmaq: mntmu anim, tmtmu anim
Mohegan-Pequot: apon
Navajo: chʼosh yoołgai bitsʼaʼígíí, chʼosh yoołgai bitsʼaʼí íiyisígíí
Norman: hitre f
Norwegian: østers (no) m
Old English: ostre f
Persian: گوشماهی‎‎ (gušmâhi), شسن‎‎ (šasn)
Polish: ostryga (pl) f
Portuguese: ostra (pt) f
Romanian: stridie (ro) f
Russian: у́стрица (ru) f (ústrica)
Scottish Gaelic: eisir m, oisir m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: каменица f, оштрига f

Roman: kamenica (sh) f, oštriga (sh) f
Sinhalese: බෙල්ලා (bellā)
Slovak: ustrica f
Slovene: ostriga (sl) f
Spanish: ostra (es) f
Swedish: ostron (sv)
Tagalog: talaba
Tajik: гӯшмоҳӣ (güšmohī)
Thai: หอยนางรม (th) (hɔ̌i-naang-rom), มุก (múk)
Turkish: istiridye (tr)
Turkmen: ustrisa
Ukrainian: у́стриця f (ústrycja)
Unami: sisawin
Urdu: شکتی‎‎ f (śukti)
Uzbek: ustritsa
Vietnamese: hàu (vi)
Volapük: hüit (vo)
Walloon: plate mosse (wa) f
Welsh: llymarch m, wystrysen f
West Coast Bajau: tigom
Yiddish: אויסטער‎‎ m (oyster)

food

Arabic: مَحَار‎‎ m (maḥār)
Hijazi Arabic: مَحَار‎‎ m pl (maḥār)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 蠔, 蚝 (hou⁴)

Mandarin: 牡蠣 (zh), 牡蛎 (zh) (mǔlì)
Finnish: osteri (fi)
French: sot-l’y-laisse (fr)
German: Pfaffenschnittchen n, Pfaffenstückchen n
Greek: στρείδι (el) n (streídi)
Japanese: 牡蠣 (ja) (かき, kaki), カキ (ja) (kaki)
Korean: 굴 (ko) (gul)
Macedonian: о́стрига f (óstriga), о́стриги f pl (óstrigi)

Navajo: chʼosh yoołgai bitsʼaʼígíí
Persian: گوشماهی‎‎ (gušmâhi), اویستر‎‎ (oyster)
Portuguese: marisco (pt) m
Russian: у́стрица (ru) f (ústrica)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: каменица f

Roman: kamenica (sh) f
Spanish: ostra (es) f
Swedish: ostron (sv) n
Vietnamese: hàu (vi), sò (vi)
Walloon: plate mosse (wa) f

colour

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

Finnish: osterinharmaa
Spanish: ostra (es) m

person who keeps secrets

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: muuri (fi)

Russian: за́мкнутый челове́к m (zámknutyj čelovék)
Spanish: tumba (es) f

Adjective[edit]

oyster (comparative more oyster, superlative most oyster)

Of a pale beige colour tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.

Verb[edit]

oyster (third-person singular simple present oysters, present participle oystering, simple past and past participle oystered)

(intransitive) To fish for oysters.

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Storey, Troyes, oystre, storey, toyers, tyroes

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