nautiloid

[ nawt-l-oid ]

noun

1. a mollusk of the subclass Nautiloidea, including nautiluses and many fossil species that were abundant in the Ordovician and Silurian periods.

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a nautiloid.

nautiloid

/ ˈnɔːtɪˌlɔɪd /

noun

1. any mollusc of the Nautiloidea, a group of cephalopods that includes the pearly nautilus and many extinct forms

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Nautiloidea

nautiloid

/ nôt′l-oid′ /

1. Any of various cephalopod mollusks of the subclass Nautiloidea, having a straight or coiled shell divided internally into a series of chambers of increasing size connected by a central tube. The nautiloids include the modern nautiluses as well as numerous extinct species dating back as far as the Cambrian Period.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nautiloid¹

First recorded in 1720–30; nautil(us) ( def ) + -oid ( def )

Example Sentences

What you’re looking at is an ancient nautiloid — a creature that resembles a squid stuffed into a shell and that lived about 450 million years ago, during the Ordovician period.

From Washington Post

Hastigerina only differs in the “flat” or nautiloid spiral.

From Project Gutenberg

From the fact that Aplysia commences its life as a free-swimming veliger with a nautiloid shell not enclosed in any way by the border of the mantle, it is clear that the enclosure of the shell in the adult is a secondary process.

From Project Gutenberg

Cephalic shield pointed behind; shell internal, chiefly membranous, with calcified nucleus, nautiloid; parapodia forming fins.

From Project Gutenberg

He referred also to the nautiloid shell of the larva falling to one side.

From Project Gutenberg