Byssus Definition
bĭsəs
byssuses
noun
A fine fabric, esp. a linen cloth, used by the ancients, as in Egypt for mummy wrapping.
Webster's New World
A tuft of filaments, chemically similar to silk, secreted by various marine bivalves, esp. the mussels, and used to attach the mollusk to the substratum.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Other Word Forms of Byssus
Noun
Singular:
byssus
Plural:
byssusesOrigin of Byssus
-
From New Latin byssus (“sea silk”), from Latin byssus (“fine cotton or cotton stuff, silk”), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bussos, “a very fine yellowish flax and the linen woven from it”), from Hebrew בּוּץ (búts), Aramaic בּוש (bus).
From Wiktionary
Middle English bissus linen cloth from Latin from Greek bussos linen Sanskrit picuḥ cotton (of Dravidian origin) or ultimately from Egyptian w’ḏ linen
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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