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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

eggshell.

The shell around an egg.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɛɡʃɛl/
  1. The shell around an egg.

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

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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”).

adj/ˈɛɡʃɛl/
  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.
Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.