Dictionary Home » Dictionary Definitions » mollusk

mollusk

(mäl′əsk)

noun

any of a large phylum (Mollusca) of invertebrate animals, including the chitons, gastropods, cephalopods, scaphopods, and bivalves characterized by a soft, unsegmented body, typically enclosed wholly or in part in a mantle and a calcareous shell, and usually having gills and a foot

Origin: Fr mollusque < ModL Mollusca, coined by Baron Georges (Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert) Cuvier < L mollusca, a soft-shelled nut < molluscus, soft < mollis: see mollify

Related Forms:

molluskan adjective, noun

See mollusk in American Heritage Dictionary 4

also mol·lusc

noun

Any of numerous chiefly marine invertebrates of the phylum Mollusca, typically having a soft unsegmented body, a mantle, and a protective calcareous shell and including the edible shellfish and the snails.

Origin:

Origin: French mollusque

Origin: , from New Latin Mollusca, phylum name

Origin: , from neuter pl. of Latin molluscus, thin-shelled

Origin: , from mollis, soft; see mel-¹ in Indo-European roots

Related Forms: