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jellyfish

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: jelly-fish and jelly fish

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A sea nettle, a type of jellyfish

Etymology

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 jellyfish on Wikipedia
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *gel-
Early Medieval Latin gelū
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Early Medieval Latin -ō
Early Medieval Latin gelō
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos
Proto-Italic *-ātos
Early Medieval Latin -ātus
Early Medieval Latin -āta
Early Medieval Latin gelātabor.
Old French geleebor.
Middle English gele
English jelly
Proto-Indo-European *péysks
Proto-Germanic *fiskaz
Proto-West Germanic *fisk
Old English fisċ
Middle English fisch
English fish
English jellyfish

    From jelly +‎ fish. From being an aquatic creature (i.e. fish) that is gelatinous (“jelly”). Despite the name, jellyfish are not biologically classified as fish.

    The term appeared in the mid-19th century and displaced various older terms such as sea jelly (now much less common), blubber/sea blubber, nettle/sea nettle (both now referring to specific jellyfish species), and, in scientific literature, medusa.

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛliˌfɪʃ/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Rhymes: -ɛlifɪʃ

    Noun

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    jellyfish (countable and uncountable, plural jellyfish or jellyfishes)

    1. An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
      Synonyms: jelly, sea jelly
      • 2015 June 18, Mahdokht Jouiaei et al., “Ancient Venom Systems: A Review on Cnidaria Toxins”, in Toxins‎[1], volume 7, →DOI:
        A recent study focused on the enzymatic and cytotoxic functions of jellyfish metalloproteases and identified diverse proteolytic effects including gelatinolytic, caseinolytic, and fibrinolytic activities.
      • 2018 April 24, John Launer, “Do We Even Need Men?”, in Literary Hub‎[2]:
        There are asexual variants among all sorts of creatures, including jellyfish, dandelions, lichens and lizards.
      1. Any of various species of cnidarians in the subphylum Medusozoa, including box jellyfish (class Cubozoa), true jellyfish (class Scyphozoa), stalked jellyfish (class Staurozoa), and certain hydrozoans.
        1. (especially) The medusa phase of these animals rather than a younger life stage.
      2. A ctenophore, a member of the phylum Ctenophora (comb jellies).
    2. A sudoku technique involving possible cell locations for a digit, or pair, or triple, in uniquely four rows and four columns only. This allows for the elimination of candidates around the grid.

    Coordinate terms

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    animals

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    See also

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