exuviae
[ig-zoo-vee-ee, ik-soo-]
- the cast skins, shells, or other coverings of animals.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for exuviae
Historical Examples
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.
I also saw the exuviae of a third fast sinking into the sand, and added the skull to my collection.
Cape CodHenry D. Thoreau
There is also some wool, vegetable down, and insect webbing, in which are entangled the exuviae of some caterpillar.
During the actual moulting the caterpillar is quite active in freeing itself from the exuviae.
Butterflies Worth KnowingClarence M. Weed
exuviae
- layers of skin or cuticle shed by animals during ecdysis
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for exuviae
n.
1660s, Latin, literally "that which is stripped off," hence "clothing, equipment, arms, booty, spoils," from stem of exuere, from PIE *eis- "to dress."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper