Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

amphioxus

[am-fee-ok-suh s]
noun, plural am·phi·ox·i [am-fee-ok-sahy] /ˌæm fiˈɒk saɪ/, am·phi·ox·us·es.
  1. Zoology. lancelet.
Show More

Origin of amphioxus

1830–40; < New Latin: literally, sharp at both ends < Greek amphi- amphi- + oxýs pointed
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for amphioxus

Historical Examples

  • This shows that Amphioxus is a comparatively primitive type.

    Stories of the Universe: Animal Life

    B. Lindsay

  • Amphioxus, like the tunicates, does not possess the characteristics of other vertebrates.

    The Origin of Vertebrates

    Walter Holbrook Gaskell

  • The skeleton of Amphioxus is partly hypoblastic, partly mesoblastic in origin.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton

    Sidney H. Reynolds

  • I remarked that his friend next door had shown me an Amphioxus.

    The Journal of a Disappointed Man

    Wilhelm Nero Pilate Barbellion

  • Wilson, separation of segmentation spheres of amphioxus egg, 60.

British Dictionary definitions for amphioxus

amphioxus

noun plural -oxi (-ˈɒksaɪ) or -oxuses
  1. another name for the lancelet
Show More

Word Origin

C19: from New Latin: both ends being sharp, from amphi- + Greek oxus sharp
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
amphioxus in Science

amphioxus

[ăm′fē-ŏk′səs]
  1. See lancelet.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.