molluskan

Variant of mollusk

mollusk definition

mol·lusk (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

Etymology: 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 mol·lus′·kan (mə lus′kən) adjective, noun

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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