belemnite

[ bel-uhm-nahyt ]

/ ˈbɛl əmˌnaɪt /

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noun Paleontology.

a conical fossil, several inches long, consisting of the internal calcareous rod of an extinct animal allied to the cuttlefish; a thunderstone.

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Origin of belemnite

1640–50; <French bélemnite, equivalent to Greek bélemn(on) a dart (noun derivative from base of bállein to throw) + French -ite-ite¹

Words nearby belemnite

beldam, beleaguer, beleaguered, belection, Belém, belemnite, belemnoid, bel esprit, Belfast, Belfort, belfry

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use belemnite in a sentence

The very form of the belemnite at once suggests the notion of a dart or lance-head, which has gained for it its scientific name.
Falling in Love|Grant Allen
Indeed, I have had two thunderbolts shown me at once, one of which was a large belemnite, and the other a modern Indian tomahawk.
Falling in Love|Grant Allen
No species of Belemnite at present known agreeing with the description; it is supposed to have been taken from a broken specimen.
A Conchological Manual|George Brettingham Sowerby
De Montfort's figure of this genus appears as if it had been drawn from the nucleus of a Belemnite.
A Conchological Manual|George Brettingham Sowerby

As a genus it holds a place intermediate between the Cuttle-fish and the Belemnite.
The World Before the Deluge|Louis Figuier

British Dictionary definitions for belemnite

belemnite

/ (ˈbɛləmˌnaɪt) /

noun

any extinct marine cephalopod mollusc of the order Belemnoidea, related to the cuttlefish

the long pointed conical internal shell of any of these animals: a common Mesozoic fossil

Word Origin for belemnite

C17: from Greek belemnon dart

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

Scientific definitions for belemnite

belemnite

[ bĕl′əm-nīt′ ]

Any of various extinct cephalopod mollusks of the order Belemnoidea that lived from the Triassic into the Tertiary Period. Belemnites had a large, cone-shaped internal shell with a complex structure that served as a support for muscles and as a hydrostatic device. Belemnites were closely related to the present-day squids and cuttlefishes.

The fossilized internal shell of one of these cephalopods. Belemnites are used as index fossils.