coelacanth
Use Coelacanth in a sentence
ləˌkænθ noun
a crossopterygian fish, Latimeria chalumnae, thought to have been extinct since the Cretaceous Period but found in 1938 off the coast of southern Africa.
Origin:
1605–15; < Neo-Latin Coelacanthus originally a genus name, equivalent to coel- coel- + Greek -akanthos -spined, -thorned, adj. derivative of ákantha spine, thorn
1605–15; < Neo-Latin Coelacanthus originally a genus name, equivalent to coel- coel- + Greek -akanthos -spined, -thorned, adj. derivative of ákantha spine, thorn
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To coelacanth
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Coelacanth
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
coelacanth (ˈsiːləˌkænθ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| a primitive marine bony fish of the genus Latimeria (subclass Crossopterygii), having fleshy limblike pectoral fins and occurring off the coast of E Africa: thought to be extinct until a living specimen was discovered in 1938 | |
| [C19: from New Latin coelacanthus, literally: hollow spine, from | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
coelacanth
1857, from Mod.L. Coelacanthus (genus name), from Gk. koilos "hollow" + akantha "spine" (see acrid).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
coelacanth (sē'lə-kānth') Pronunciation Key
(click for larger image in new window) Any of various fishes of the order Coelacanthiformes, having lobed, fleshy fins. Coelacanths are crossopterygians, the ancient group of lobe-finned fishes that gave rise to land vertebrates. They were known only from Paleozoic and Mesozoic fossils until a living species (Latimeria chalumnae) was found in the Indian Ocean in 1938. At least one other (Malania anjouanae) has been discovered since then. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
The coelacanth was thought to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs.
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