ephippium

[ ih-fip-ee-uhm ]

noun

, Zoology.

, plural e·phip·pi·a [ih-, fip, -ee-, uh].

1. a thick shell, consisting of two chitinous plates, that encloses and protects the winter eggs of a cladoceran.

Other Words From

• e·phippi·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ephippium¹

1835–45; < New Latin < Greek ephíppion, noun use of neuter of ephíppios for putting on a horse, equivalent to ep- ep- + hípp ( os ) horse + -ios adj. suffix

Example Sentences

Such is the sad fate of two species of pumpkin toadlets—Brachycephalus ephippium and B. pitanga—that live in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.

From Science Magazine

The bare mention of such names as Nebria complanata and livida, Calathus mollis, Pogonus luridipennis, Trechus lapidosus, Aëpus marinus and Robinii, Cillenum laterale, Bembidium scutellare, ephippium and pallidipenne, Ochthebius marinus, Psylliodes marcida, Phaleria cadaverina, Helops testaceus, and Anthicus instabilis, so eminently characteristic as they are of briny situations, will at once appeal to our native entomologists; whilst the acknowledgement of the same principle is no less conspicuous in a host of other species which are not included in the British fauna.

From Project Gutenberg

Atlanticum, Woll., paler in Porto Santo than in Madeira, 66;the variations to which it is subject, 107, 108.—— bistriatum, Dufts., paler in saline districts, 62.—— ephippium, Mshm, pallid hue of, 64.—— obtusum, Sturm, varies in southern latitudes, 33.—— pallidipenne, Illig., pallid hue of, 64.—— saxatile, Gyll., variety of, on the south coast of England, 60.——

From Project Gutenberg

The latter in the Daphniidae are enclosed in a modified part of the mother’s shell, called the ephippium from its resemblance to a saddle in shape and position.

From Project Gutenberg

Ephippium, 3. idque succingit Cingulo, 4.

From Project Gutenberg