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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
bys·sus    Audio Help   [bis-uhs] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural bys·sus·es, bys·si    Audio Help   [bis-ahy] Pronunciation Key.
1.Zoology. a collection of silky filaments by which certain mollusks attach themselves to rocks.
2.an ancient cloth, thought to be of linen, cotton, or silk.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L < Gk býssos a fine cotton or linen < Sem; cf. Heb būts]

—Related forms
bys·sa·ceous    Audio Help   [bi-sey-shuhs] Pronunciation Key, byssoid, adjective
byssal, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Byssus

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bys·sus    Audio Help   (bĭs'əs)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. bys·sus·es or bys·si (bĭs'ī')
  1. Zoology A mass of strong, silky filaments by which certain bivalve mollusks, such as mussels, attach themselves to rocks and other fixed surfaces.
  2. A fine-textured linen of ancient times, used by the Egyptians for wrapping mummies.


[Middle English bissus, linen cloth, from Latin, from Greek bussos, linen; akin to Sanskrit picuḥ, cotton (of Dravidian origin), or ultimately from Egyptian w'ḏ, linen.]

bys'sal (bĭs'əl) adj.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
byssus

noun
tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself fast to a fixed surface 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Byssus

Byss\, n. See Byssus, n., 1.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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