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Definition of Byssus
1. Noun. Tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself fast to a fixed surface.
Definition of Byssus
1. n. A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients. It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk.
Definition of Byssus
1. Noun. An exceptionally fine and valuable fibre or cloth of ancient times. Originally used for fine flax and linens, its use was later extended to fine cottons, silks, and sea silk. ¹
2. Noun. The long fine silky filaments excreted by several mollusks (particularly ''Pinna nobilis'') by which they attach themselves to the sea bed, from which sea silk is manufactured. ¹
3. Noun. The stipe or stem of some fungi which are particularly thin and thread-like. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Byssus
1. a fine linen [n BYSSUSES or BYSSI] : BYSSAL [adj]
Medical Definition of Byssus
1.
1. A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients. It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk.
Alternative forms: byss and byssin.
2.
Lexicographical Neighbors of Byssus
Literary usage of Byssus
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians: Including Their Private Life by John Gardner Wilkinson (1837)
"It now remains to inquire into the nature of the byssus, in which I confess
considerable difficulty presents itself, owing to the Hebrew shash being ..."
2. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing by Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck (1911)
"... purple, and scarlet. girdle also of byssus, inwoven \vith 2) there were inwoven
flowers, and the ends of the girdle hung down to the ground, ..."
3. The Intellectual Observer (1866)
"Under Side of Foot enlarged ; a Portion of the Integument removed. A, Groove;
it, Substance of the Foot uncovered; C, Glandular Portion. byssus is the name ..."
4. The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and by Hugh Chisholm (1911)
"Foot with a very stout byssus. Gills fused to the mantle. ... Foot much reduced
and without byssus. Heart usually on the ventral side of the rectum. ..."
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