lytta

[lit-uh]

noun, plural lyt·tas, lyt·tae [lit-ee] /ˈlɪt i/.

a long, worm-shaped cartilage in the tongue of the dog and other carnivorous animals.

Origin of lytta

1595–1605; < New Latin < Greek lýtta, Attic form of lýssa rage, rabies; so named because the cartilage was thought to be a parasite causing rabies

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lytta

Historical Examples of lytta

We come now to the tribe of blistering beetles, of which the best known is the Cantharides (Cantharis or Lytta).
The Insect World
Louis Figuier
Species of Lytta abound, but no use is made of them, the Shoans having no real medicine prepared from the animal kingdom.
The Highlands of Ethiopia
William Cornwallis Harris
Unwormed, un-wurmd′, adj. not wormed, not having had the worm or lytta under the tongue cut out—of a dog.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)
Various
When the lytta, alias blister beetle, arrives, prepare to give a warm welcome to him and all of his kind.
The Mayflower, January, 1905
Various

British Dictionary definitions for lytta

lytta

noun plural -tas or -tae (-tiː)

a rodlike mass of cartilage beneath the tongue in the dog and other carnivores

Word Origin for lytta

C17: New Latin, from Greek lussa madness; in dogs, it was believed to be a cause of rabies

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