nummulite

[nuhm-yuh-lahyt]

noun

1. a fossil foraminifer of the genus Camerina (Nummulites ), having a calcareous, usually disklike shell.

nummulite

/ ˈnʌmjʊˌlaɪt, ˌnʌmjʊˈlɪtɪk /

noun

1. any of various large fossil protozoans of the family Nummulitidae, common in Tertiary times: phylum Foraminifera (foraminifers)

Other Word Forms

• nummulitic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nummulite¹

First recorded in 1805–15; nummul(ar) + -ite ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of nummulite¹

C19: from New Latin Nummulites genus name, from Latin nummulus, from nummus coin

Example Sentences

With them are the Nummulites, looking externally very like buttons, but on the inside divided into innumerable chambers in which the complex animal that formed the nummulite dwelt.

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Generally, however, the Cretaceous beds do not appear, and the greater part of southern Arabia seems to be formed of Alveolina and nummulite limestones of Tertiary age.

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"You might have a necklace made, with the nummulites above and the flints below as pendants."

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The Eocene includes a series of sandstones and marls with lignite, and these are overlaid by nummulite limestones.

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Lower Cretaceous limestones and schists, with radiolarian cherts, arc extensively developed; and in many parts of the island Upper Cretaceous limestones with Rudistes and Eocene beds with nummulites have been found.

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