PRAWN  , the name of an edible large

shrimp-like crustacean in Great Britain usually applied to Leander serratus (see SHRIMP) . The word is in M . Eng. prayne or prane, and no cognate forms are found in any other languages . It has been often referred to the Lat. perna, a ham-shaped shellfish, but this is due to Florio, who by a mistake glosses parnocchie, prawne-fishes or shrimps . The O . Ital . Perna and pernocchia meant a shellfish which yielded " nacre " or mother-of-pearl .