velella
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of velella
1825–35; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin vēl ( um ) sail + -ella -ella
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Velella velella, commonly known as by-the-wind sailors and closely related to the Portuguese man o' war, have been spotted on St Bees beach in recent weeks.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Velella velella, commonly known as by-the-wind sailors and closely related to the Portuguese man o' war, have been spotted on beaches across Anglesey, Gwynedd and Tenby.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
These sea snails are also voracious predators themselves and feast upon free-floating hydrozoan such as Velella velella and Portuguese man o’ war.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2025
What looks like an individual Velella velella is actually a colony of teeny multicellular animals, or zooids, each with their own function, that come together to make a single organism.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2024
As the barnacles grew larger, the remains of the velella changed into large excrescences, half the size of a walnut.
From Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2 by George Grey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
