- Mytilus
- Byssus Bys"sus, n.; pl. E. {Byssuses}; L. {Byssi}.[L. byssus
fine flax, fine linen or cotton, Gr. by`ssos .]
[1913 Webster]
1. A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients.
It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk.
[Written also {byss} and {byssin}.]
[1913 Webster]
2. (Zo["o]l.) 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. [1913 Webster]
3. (Bot.) An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of slender threads. [1913 Webster]
4. Asbestus. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
