jellyfish

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
25
Words With Friends
27
Letters
9
Pronunciation
/ˈd͡ʒɛliˌfɪʃ/

Definition of jellyfish

5 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (countable, uncountable)An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
    “A recent study focused on the enzymatic and cytotoxic functions of jellyfish metalloproteases and identified diverse proteolytic effects including gelatinolytic, caseinolytic, and fibrinolytic activities.”
    “There are asexual variants among all sorts of creatures, including jellyfish, dandelions, lichens and lizards.”
See all 5 definitions

noun

  1. (countable, uncountable)An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
    “A recent study focused on the enzymatic and cytotoxic functions of jellyfish metalloproteases and identified diverse proteolytic effects including gelatinolytic, caseinolytic, and fibrinolytic activities.”
    “There are asexual variants among all sorts of creatures, including jellyfish, dandelions, lichens and lizards.”
  2. (countable, uncountable)An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
  3. (countable, especially, uncountable)An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
  4. (countable, uncountable)An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
  5. (countable, uncountable)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.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gel- Latin gelū Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin gelō ▲ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin…

See full etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gel- Latin gelū Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin gelō ▲ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Latin -āta Early Medieval Latin gelāta 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.

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