lancelet

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small translucent, fishlike marine chordate that retains a notochord and usually lives partly buried in sand

   The lancelet emerged from the sand and filtered tiny food particles from the water.

Formed from lance + the diminutive suffix -let, referring to the animal's slender, lancetlike shape. The zoological name entered English in the nineteenth century. Lancelets are also called amphioxus, from Greek amphi ('on both sides') + oxys ('sharp').

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