mussel

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a marine or freshwater bivalve mollusc with an elongated shell, often living attached to rocks or buried in a riverbed

   Freshwater mussels filtered the pond water from beneath the gravel.

2. 2
   noun

   a mussel considered as food

   The cook steamed each mussel with garlic and white wine.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Mussel is an Old English word historically identical with muscle. Muscle derives from Latin musculus, which meant both “little mouse” and “muscle,” and entered English through French in the 14th century. The accepted spellings of muscle and mussel remained variable into the 19th century.

From Middle English muscle and Old English muscle, through Late Latin muscula from Latin musculus, literally 'little mouse.' The old forms muscle and muscel were used for the shellfish before mussel became the standard spelling; muscle is its etymological doublet.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary