Mollusca
[muh-luhs-kuh]
- the phylum comprising the mollusks.
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Origin of Mollusca
1790–1800; < New Latin, neuter plural of Latin molluscus soft; akin to mollis soft
molluscum
[muh-luhs-kuh m]
- any of various skin conditions characterized by soft, rounded tumors.
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Origin of molluscum
1805–15; < New Latin, Latin: fungus, noun use of neuter of molluscus soft; akin to mollis soft
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mollusca
Historical Examples
All the classes of Mollusca appear fully fledged, as it were.
Form and FunctionE. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
They existed, few or many, as early as any other of the mollusca.
Fishes and mollusca are among the most prominent of their animals.
The larval forms of the Mollusca differ considerably from the adult.
Stories of the Universe: Animal LifeB. Lindsay
The shell-fish are called Mollusca, the soft-bodied animals.
Stories of the Universe: Animal LifeB. Lindsay
Word Origin and History for mollusca
Mollusca
n.
1797, from Modern Latin mollusca, chosen by Linnaeus as the name of an invertebrate order (1758), from neuter plural of Latin molluscus "thin-shelled," from mollis "soft" (see melt (v.)). Linnæus applied the word to a heterogeneous group of invertebrates, not originally including mollusks with shells; the modern scientific use is after a classification proposed 1790s by French naturalist Georges Léopole Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert, Baron Cuvier (1769-1832).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
molluscum
(mə-lŭs′kəm)- Any of various skin diseases marked by the occurrence of soft spherical tumors on the face or the body.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.