mabe
/ˈmɑːbi/ /ˈmɑːbeɪ/ /mɑːˈbeɪ/(also mobe)
noun
In full mabe pearl. A type of large, usually hemispherical cultured pearl, grown on the inside shell of an oyster rather than within the body, and often (because of its shape) mounted in jewellery.
- Originally produced in Japan, mabe pearls are now cultured throughout the Pacific Rim, principally grown in the wing oysters Pteria penguin and P. maxima..
Origin
1940s; earliest use found in The New York Times. From Japanese mabe the bivalve Pteria penguin, a pearl cultivated in the shell of this bivalve.