ammonite

¹ American  

[am-uh-nahyt] / ˈæm əˌnaɪt /

noun

1. the coiled, chambered fossil shell of an ammonoid.

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ammonite ² American  

[am-uh-nahyt] / ˈæm əˌnaɪt /

noun

1. a nitrogenous mixture consisting chiefly of dried animal fats, usually obtained from livestock carcasses, and used as a fertilizer.

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Ammonite ³ American  

[am-uh-nahyt] / ˈæm əˌnaɪt /

noun

1. an inhabitant of Ammon.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Ammonites.

ammonite ¹ British  

/ ˌæməˈnɪtɪk, ˈæməˌnaɪt /

noun

1. any extinct marine cephalopod mollusc of the order Ammonoidea, which were common in Mesozoic times and generally had a coiled partitioned shell. Their closest modern relative is the pearly nautilus

2. the shell of any of these animals, commonly occurring as a fossil

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ammonite ² British  

/ ˈæməˌnaɪt /

noun

1. an explosive consisting mainly of ammonium nitrate with smaller amounts of other substances, such as TNT

2. a nitrogenous fertilizer made from animal wastes

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ammonite Scientific  

/ ăm′ə-nīt′ /

1. Any of the ammonoids belonging to the order Ammonitida and living during the Jurassic and the Cretaceous Periods. Ammonites had a thick, very ornamental chambered shell with highly defined, wavy sutures between the chambers.

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Other Word Forms

• Ammonitish adjective
• ammonitic adjective
• ammonitoid adjective
• pre-Ammonite adjective

Etymology

Origin of ammonite¹

1700–10; < New Latin Ammonites < Medieval Latin ( cornū ) Ammōn ( is ) (literally, horn of Ammon ) + -ītes -ite ¹; fossil so called from its resemblance to the horn of Jupiter Ammon

Origin of ammonite¹

First recorded in 1600–10; ammo(nium) + nit(rat)e

Origin of Ammonite¹

First recorded in 1605–15; Ammon + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

She said the rocks were about 140 to 180 million years old and contained ammonites – spiral-shelled molluscs that lived in the oceans while dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

From BBC

This revealed a number of specimens including bones from ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs and other ancient sea creatures including ammonites and bivalves, marine crocodiles and sharks.

From Science Daily

This interval, known as the Hettangian, was a time of continuing adverse conditions in the oceans, with generally low diversities among marine invertebrates, such as ammonites and bivalves.

From Science Daily

His collection at the time included ammonites, marine animals with a coiled shell.

From BBC

The name of this cuvée refers to the ammonite fossils in the ancient soils of the vineyards.

From Washington Post