| byssus | 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. <marine biology> A tuft of long, tough filaments which are formed in a groove of the foot, and issue from between the valves of certain bivalve mollusks, as the Pinna and Mytilus, by which they attach themselves to rocks, etc. 3. <botany> An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of slender threads. Origin: L. Byssus fine flax, fine linen or cotton, Gr. (21 Mar 1998) |
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