echinus

American  

[ih-kahy-nuhs] / ɪˈkaɪ nəs /

noun

echini plural

1. any sea urchin of the genus Echinus.

2. 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.

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echinus British  

/ ɪˈkaɪnəs /

noun

1. architect an ovolo moulding between the shaft and the abacus of a Doric column

2. any of the sea urchins of the genus Echinus, such as E. esculentus ( edible sea urchin ) of the Mediterranean

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• echini
  plural

Etymology

Origin of echinus

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

echinus echini

Very frequently specimens of C. echinus occur in which some of the tubercles do not develop central spines, and then the spine characters resemble those of C. radians.

From North American Species of Cactus by Coulter, John Merle

The projection of the echinus beyond the fillet of the abacus should be equal to the size of the eye.

From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio

The windows of the principal story, the echinus moulding of which is handsome, have bold and enriched pediments, and the centre windows are honoured by massive balustrade balconies.

From Old and New London Volume I by Thornbury, Walter

This, though a less rational and expressive form for its particular office than is the echinus of the Doric cap, is a far more perfect symbol of the feminine element in nature.

From The Beautiful Necessity Seven Essays on Theosophy and Architecture by Bragdon, Claude Fayette

Yet the echinus can have, at the best, none but the most distant genetic relationship with the Polyzoa.

From On the Genesis of Species by Mivart, St. George

Some have only the Latin plural, which usually changes us to i; as, alumnus, alumni; androgynus, androgyni; calculus, calculi; dracunculus, dracunculi; echinus, echini; magus, magi.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold

But, if pearls and bright shells be rarely found there, surely waifs, better than echini and sting-rays, are to be gathered on the “shores of long ago.”

From Sword and Gown A Novel by Lawrence, George A. (George Alfred)

Its proper diet consists of the smaller marine animals, such as crabs, echini, and molluscs, alive or dead, fish and carrion.

From British Birds in their Haunts by Johns, Rev. C. A.

Superb specimens were secured,—large boulders crowded with colossal shells and perfectly preserved echini.

From Louis Agassiz: His Life and Correspondence by Agassiz, Louis

Mr. John Beaumont, Junr., of Somersetshire, a great naturalist, tells me that some-where by Chilmarke lies in the chalke a bed of stones called "echini marini".

From The Natural History of Wiltshire by Aubrey, John