Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Byssus
‖
Bys′sus
,Noun.
pl. E.
Byssuses
; L. Byssi
. [L.
byssus
fine flax, fine linen or cotton, Gr. βύσσοσ
.] 1.
A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients. It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk.
[Written also
byss
and byssin
.] 2.
(Zool.)
A tuft of long, tough filaments which are formed in a groove of the foot, and issue from between the valves of certain bivalve mollusks, as the
Pinna
and Mytilus
, by which they attach themselves to rocks, etc. 3.
(Bot.)
An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of slender threads.
4.
Asbestus.
Webster 1828 Edition
Byssus
BYS'SUS
,Noun.
Definition 2024
byssus
byssus
English
A mussel (genus Mytilus), attached to a rock by its byssus (filaments)
Noun
byssus (usually uncountable, plural byssuses)
- An exceptionally fine and valuable fibre or cloth of ancient times. Originally used for fine flax and linens, its use was later extended to fine cottons, silks, and sea silk.
- The long fine silky filaments excreted by several mollusks (particularly Pinna nobilis) by which they attach themselves to the sea bed, and from which sea silk is manufactured.
- (mycology) The stipe or stem of some fungi which are particularly thin and thread-like.
Translations
filaments of molluscs
|
Related terms
- byssaceous
- byssal
- byssiferous
- byssine
- byssinosis
- byssoid
- byssogenous
- byssolite
References
- The Compact edition of the Oxford English dictionary: complete text reproduced micrographically and Supplement. Oxford at the Clarendon Press. 1987
- Webster's Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged) 1976. G. & C. Merriam Co.
Latin
Etymology
From Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, “a very fine yellowish flax and the linen woven from it”), from Hebrew בּוּץ (búts), Aramaic בּוש (bus).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈbys.sus/, [ˈbʏs.sʊs]
Noun
byssus m (genitive byssī); second declension
Inflection
Second declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | byssus | byssī |
| genitive | byssī | byssōrum |
| dative | byssō | byssīs |
| accusative | byssum | byssōs |
| ablative | byssō | byssīs |
| vocative | bysse | byssī |
References
- byssus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- BYSSUS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- byssus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- byssus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin