exuviae

[ig-zoo-vee-ee, ik-soo-]

plural noun

the cast skins, shells, or other coverings of animals.

Origin of exuviae

1645–55; < Latin, derivative of exuere to remove, strip off, divest oneself of, equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + -uere to put on

Related formsex·u·vi·al, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for exuviae

Historical Examples of exuviae

Our thoughts should soar upward with the butterfly,—not linger with the exuviae that confined him.
Chippings With A Chisel (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Broken sea shells and other exuviae of marine animals are apparent throughout the whole mass.
An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Vol. 2
David Collins
I also saw the exuviae of a third fast sinking into the sand, and added the skull to my collection.
Cape Cod
Henry D. Thoreau
There is also some wool, vegetable down, and insect webbing, in which are entangled the exuviae of some caterpillar.
Life Histories of North American Wood Warblers Part One and Part Two
Arthur Bent
During the actual moulting the caterpillar is quite active in freeing itself from the exuviae.
Butterflies Worth Knowing
Clarence M. Weed

British Dictionary definitions for exuviae

exuviae

pl n

layers of skin or cuticle shed by animals during ecdysis

Derived Formsexuvial, adjective

Word Origin for exuviae

C17: from Latin: something stripped off (the body), from exuere to strip off

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

Word Origin and History for exuviae

1660s, Latin, literally "that which is stripped off," hence "clothing, equipment, arms, booty, spoils," from stem of exuere, from PIE *eis- "to dress."