jellyfish
/ˈd͡ʒɛliˌfɪʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.25 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An almost transparent aquatic animal; any one of the acalephs, especially one of the larger species, having a jellylike appearance.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "A recent study focused on the enzymatic and cytotoxic functions of jellyfish metalloproteases and identified diverse proteolytic effects including gelatinolytic, caseinolytic, and fibrinolytic activities."
- "There are asexual variants among all sorts of creatures, including jellyfish, dandelions, lichens and lizards."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gel- Latin gelū Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin gelō ▲ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Latin -āta Early Medieval Latin gelāta Old French geleebor. Middle English gele English jelly Proto-Indo-European *péysks Proto-Germanic *fiskaz Proto-West Germanic *fisk Old English fisċ Middle English fisch English fish English jellyfish From jelly + fish. From being an aquatic creature (i.e. fish) that is gelatinous (“jelly”). Despite the name, jellyfish are not biologically classified as fish. The term appeared in the mid-19th century and displaced various older terms such as sea jelly (now much less common), blubber/sea blubber, nettle/sea nettle (both now referring to specific jellyfish species), and, in scientific literature, medusa.
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
alarm jellyfish
arctic red jellyfish
Atolla jellyfish
barrel jellyfish
blubber jellyfish
blue blubber jellyfish
blue bottle jellyfish
box jellyfish