eggshell

English

Etymology

From Middle English eggeshell, ege schelle, egg-shel, egg shelle (also as Middle English eye schell, ey-schel, ey-schelle), partially continuing Old English ǣġsċill, ǣġsċyll (“eggshell”), equivalent to egg +‎ shell. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Oaierskil (“eggshell”), Dutch eierschaal (“eggshell”), German Eierschale (“eggshell”), Danish æggeskal (“eggshell”), Swedish äggskal (“eggshell”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛɡʃɛl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

eggshell (countable and uncountable, plural eggshells)

1. The shell around an egg.
   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 380:

     Like Egge-ſhels mou'd upon their Surges, crack'd / As eaſily ’gainſt our Rockes.

2. A pale off-white colour, like that of the eggshell of many chickens.

   eggshell:  

   Coordinate term: robin's-egg blue

Derived terms

• eggshellful
• eggshell blue
• eggshell rule
• walk on eggshells

Translations

object

Afrikaans: eierdop (af) Arabic: قَشْر الْبَيْضِ m (qašr al-bayḍi) Basque: arrautza-azal Bikol Central: arikurong Bulgarian: черупка (bg) f (čerupka) Catalan: closca (ca) f d'ou (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 蛋殼 / 蛋壳 (daan6-2 hok3) Hokkien: 卵殼 / 卵壳 (nn̄g-khak) Mandarin: 蛋殼 / 蛋壳 (zh) (dànké, dànke) Czech: skořápka (cs) f Danish: æggeskal (da) c Dutch: eierschaal (nl) f Faroese: eggjakoppur m, eggjaskal (fo) n Finnish: munankuori (fi) French: coquille d'œuf (fr) f Galician: casca de ovo f German: Eierschale (de) f Greek: αβγότσουφλο (el) n (avgótsouflo) Hungarian: tojáshéj (hu) Icelandic: eggjaskurn f Indonesian: kulit telur Irish: blaosc uibhe f Italian: guscio d'uovo Japanese: 卵の殻 (たまごのから, tamago no kara), 卵殻 (ja) (らんかく, rankaku, たまごがら, tamagogara) Khiamniungan Naga: vēulūikhūp Khmer: សំបកពង (sɑmbɑɑk pɔɔng) Korean: 달걀 껍질 (dalgyal kkeopjil), 계란(鷄卵) 껍질 (gyeran kkeopjil), 난각(卵殼) (nan'gak) Latvian: olas čaumala f, čaumala f Lithuanian: kiaušinio lukštas m, lukštas m Luxembourgish: Eeërschuel f Maltese: qoxra tal-bajd Plautdietsch: Eiaschol f Polish: skorupka jajka f Portuguese: casca de ovo f Romanian: coajă de ou f Russian: яи́чная скорлупа́ f (jaíčnaja skorlupá), скорлупа́ (ru) f (skorlupá) Scottish Gaelic: plaosg-uighe m, slige f Slovak: škrupina f Spanish: cáscara de huevo f Swedish: äggskal (sv) n Tamil: முட்டையோடு (ta) (muṭṭaiyōṭu) Thai: เปลือกไข่ (bplʉ̀ʉak-kài) Vietnamese: vỏ trứng Welsh: plisgyn ŵy m (North, Southwest), masgl ŵy f (South)

colour

Catalan: blanc de closca d'ou (ca) m French: coquille d’œuf (fr) m Icelandic: beingulur litur m, beingulur m Portuguese: casca de ovo m

Adjective

eggshell (comparative more eggshell, superlative most eggshell)

1. Of a pale yellowish-whitish colour, like that of the eggshell.
2. Exhibiting the thinness, translucency or near-transparency, and fragility of an eggshell.

   eggshell porcelain

3. Very matt, having a low reflexivity, like an eggshell.

   This clear varnish is available in gloss, matt and eggshell finishes.

Translations

of a pale yellowish-whitish colour

Icelandic: beingulur m

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Further reading

• eggshell on Wikipedia.Wikipedia