Mollusca

[muh-luhs-kuh]

noun

the phylum comprising the mollusks.

Origin of Mollusca

1790–1800; < New Latin, neuter plural of Latin molluscus soft; akin to mollis soft

molluscum

[muh-luhs-kuh m]

noun, plural mol·lus·ca [muh-luhs-kuh] /məˈlʌs kə/. Pathology.

any of various skin conditions characterized by soft, rounded tumors.

Origin of molluscum

1805–15; < New Latin, Latin: fungus, noun use of neuter of molluscus soft; akin to mollis soft

Related formsmol·lus·cous, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for mollusca

Historical Examples of mollusca

All the classes of Mollusca appear fully fledged, as it were.
Form and Function
E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
They existed, few or many, as early as any other of the mollusca.
The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, Volume I, No. 7, July, 1880
Various
Fishes and mollusca are among the most prominent of their animals.
The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Vol. XLIX
Various
The larval forms of the Mollusca differ considerably from the adult.
Stories of the Universe: Animal Life
B. Lindsay
The shell-fish are called Mollusca, the soft-bodied animals.
Stories of the Universe: Animal Life
B. Lindsay

Word Origin and History for mollusca

Mollusca

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).

mollusca in Medicine

molluscum

[mə-lŭs′kəm]

n. pl. mol•lus•ca (-kə)

Any of various skin diseases marked by the occurrence of soft spherical tumors on the face or the body.