ammonite

¹ American  

[am-uh-nahyt] / ˈæm əˌnaɪt /

noun

1. the coiled, chambered fossil shell of an ammonoid.

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ammonite ² American  

[am-uh-nahyt] / ˈæm əˌnaɪt /

noun

1. a nitrogenous mixture consisting chiefly of dried animal fats, usually obtained from livestock carcasses, and used as a fertilizer.

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Ammonite ³ American  

[am-uh-nahyt] / ˈæm əˌnaɪt /

noun

1. an inhabitant of Ammon.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Ammonites.

ammonite ¹ British  

/ ˌæməˈnɪtɪk, ˈæməˌnaɪt /

noun

1. any extinct marine cephalopod mollusc of the order Ammonoidea, which were common in Mesozoic times and generally had a coiled partitioned shell. Their closest modern relative is the pearly nautilus

2. the shell of any of these animals, commonly occurring as a fossil

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ammonite ² British  

/ ˈæməˌnaɪt /

noun

1. an explosive consisting mainly of ammonium nitrate with smaller amounts of other substances, such as TNT

2. a nitrogenous fertilizer made from animal wastes

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ammonite Scientific  

/ ăm′ə-nīt′ /

1. Any of the ammonoids belonging to the order Ammonitida and living during the Jurassic and the Cretaceous Periods. Ammonites had a thick, very ornamental chambered shell with highly defined, wavy sutures between the chambers.

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Other Word Forms

• Ammonitish adjective
• ammonitic adjective
• ammonitoid adjective
• pre-Ammonite adjective

Etymology

Origin of ammonite¹

1700–10; < New Latin Ammonites < Medieval Latin ( cornū ) Ammōn ( is ) (literally, horn of Ammon ) + -ītes -ite ¹; fossil so called from its resemblance to the horn of Jupiter Ammon

Origin of ammonite²

First recorded in 1600–10; ammo(nium) + nit(rat)e

Origin of Ammonite³

First recorded in 1605–15; Ammon + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

The name of this cuvée refers to the ammonite fossils in the ancient soils of the vineyards.

From Washington Post • Dec. 15, 2022

Fossils such as this opalized ammonite can develop gradually when a mixture of water and silica permeates deeply buried shells, bones or teeth left behind after other remains rot away.

From Scientific American • Sep. 5, 2022

Enter Nipponites mirabilis, a species of ammonite straight out of an M.C.

From New York Times • Dec. 10, 2021

The rock falls with her and, breaking in two by her feet, reveals an ammonite, cracked.

From The Guardian • Feb. 21, 2021

I was walking along still staring into my ammonite when an elbow swung out of nowhere and knocked my head backward on its hinge.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell