shagreen
/ʃəˈɡɹiːn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.53 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The following day the treasures of the mysterious tower came pouring in: pictures, statues, gems, shells, china, stuffed beasts and birds, tables, vases, petrifactions, arms, mandarins, &c. &c.; and among them the shagreen skin, with the injunction, "Sell it for any thing—nothing—give it away; only, get rid of it.""
- "On the old lecturn or reading-stand which he used for his heavier tomes, The Testaments of Carnamagos, in its covers of shagreen with hasps of human bone, lay open at the very page which had frightened him so unreasonably with its eldritch intimations."
- "If the shagreen dots be carefully observed they will be found to possess an annular arrangement."
- "The shagreen of the abdominal tergites generally consists of small spinules, singly or in caudally convex arcs."
Etymology
First use appears c. 1677, an Anglicized form of chagrin, from French chagrin, from Ottoman Turkish صاغری (modern Turkish sağrı). However, the etymology of French chagrin is complex and disputed, and likely of Germanic origin. Whether there was any influence between an existing French word of Germanic origin and a Turkish loan is unclear.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ʃəˈɡɹiːn/