echinus

[ ih-kahy-nuhs ]

/ ɪˈkaɪ nəs /

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noun, plural e·chi·ni

[ih-kahy-nahy]. /ɪˈkaɪ naɪ/.

any sea urchin of the genus Echinus.

Architecture.

an ovolo molding, especially one having an outline with several radii or one carved with an egg-and-dart pattern.
the prominent circular molding supporting the abacus of a Doric or Tuscan capital.
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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Origin of echinus

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

Words nearby echinus

echinococcus cyst, echinoderm, echinodermatous, echinoid, echinulate, echinus, echium, echiurid, echiuroid, echo, echoacousia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use echinus in a sentence

In Echinus, on the other hand, where the polar bodies are formed in the ovary, the male pronucleus is always small.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1|Francis Maitland Balfour
Echinus (e-kīnus), in architecture, the ovolo or quarter-round convex moulding, seen in capitals of the Doric order.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia|Various
Boveri has crossed Echinus microtuberculatus with Sphaerechinus granularis.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 1|Various
Yet the echinus can have, at the best, none but the most distant genetic relationship with the Polyzoa.
On the Genesis of Species|St. George Mivart

The second class is that to which the sea-urchin, or Echinus, belongs, of which there are many genera and species.
A Conchological Manual|George Brettingham Sowerby

British Dictionary definitions for echinus

echinus

/ (ɪˈkaɪnəs) /

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