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lytta

[lit-uh]
noun, plural lyt·tas, lyt·tae [lit-ee] /ˈlɪt i/.
  1. a long, worm-shaped cartilage in the tongue of the dog and other carnivorous animals.
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for lytta

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • When the lytta, alias blister beetle, arrives, prepare to give a warm welcome to him and all of his kind.

British Dictionary definitions for lytta

lytta

noun plural -tas or -tae (-tiː)
  1. a rodlike mass of cartilage beneath the tongue in the dog and other carnivores
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Word Origin

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