lamprey
pronunciation
How to pronounce lamprey in British English:
UK [ˈlæmpri]
How to pronounce lamprey in American English:
US [ˈlæmpri]
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- Noun:
- primitive eellike freshwater or anadromous cyclostome having round sucking mouth with a rasping tongue
Word Origin
- lamprey
- lamprey: [12] The words lamprey and limpet [OE] come from the same source: medieval Latin lamprēda. This was an alteration of an earlier, 5th-century lampetra, which has been plausibly explained as literally ‘stone-licker’ (from Latin lambēre ‘lick’, source of English lambent, and petra ‘stone’). The reason for applying such a name to the limpet is fairly obvious – it clings fast to rocks – but in fact the lamprey too holds on to rocks, with its jawless sucking mouth.=> lambent, limpet, petrol
- lamprey (n.)
- c. 1300 (c. 1200 as a surname?), from Old French lamproie, from Medieval Latin lampreda, from Late Latin lampetra "lamprey," of uncertain origin, usually explained as literally "lick-rock," from Latin lambere "to lick" (see lap (v.1)) + petra "rock" (see petrous). The animals attach themselves to things with their sucker-like mouths.
Example
- 1. So researchers extracted chemical compounds from 10 putrefying lamprey carcasses .
- 2. Assessment of genetic diversity of pacific lamprey .
- 3. Nw tribes drive effort to save the lamprey .