echinus

[ih-kahy-nuh s]

noun, plural e·chi·ni

[ih-kahy-nahy] /ɪˈkaɪ naɪ/.

any sea urchin of the genus Echinus.
Architecture.
1. an ovolo molding, especially one having an outline with several radii or one carved with an egg-and-dart pattern.
2. the prominent circular molding supporting the abacus of a Doric or Tuscan capital.
3. Also called cymatium.the circular molding, usually carved with an egg-and-dart pattern, forming part of an Ionic capital between the volutes and under the balteus.

Origin of echinus

1325–75; Middle English < Latin < Greek echînos hedgehog, sea urchin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for echinus

Historical Examples of echinus

A name in our northern isles for the sea-urchin, Echinus marinus.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
It cannot be our task to follow all the points of organogenesis of Echinus in detail.
The Science and Philosophy of the Organism
Hans Driesch
Is, therefore, oxygen the cause of the formation of the intestine of echinus?
The Science and Philosophy of the Organism
Hans Driesch
Then coasting along the shore 100 stadia, we find above it, Echinus.
The Geography of Strabo, Volume II (of 3)
Strabo
Echinus sphra is the most common on the Norfolk coast; E. miliaris, a small species, is also very abundant about Cromer.
Notes and Letters on the Natural History of Norfolk
Thomas Browne

British Dictionary definitions for echinus

echinus

noun plural -ni (-naɪ)

architect an ovolo moulding between the shaft and the abacus of a Doric column
any of the sea urchins of the genus Echinus, such as E. esculentus (edible sea urchin) of the Mediterranean

Word Origin for echinus

C14: from Latin, from Greek ekhinos

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