ammonite
[ˈɛə̯mɪ̈nʌɪ̯t̚] noun, adjective, proper noun
Forms ammonites
- noun (paleontology) Any of an extinct group of cephalopods of the subclass Ammonoidea; a fossil shell of such an animal.
- noun An explosive prepared from a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate; a form of amatol, popular in Eastern Europe and China.
- noun A native or inhabitant of Ammon.
- adjective Of or pertaining to the Ammonites.
- proper noun The extinct Canaanite language of the Ammonite people who used to live in modern-day northwest Jordan, and after whom its capital Amman is named. Extinct since 5th century BCE.
Synonyms
Etymology
From French ammonite, from Latin Ammōnis (cornū) (“horn of Ammon”), as it was called by Pliny the Elder in reference to coiling ram horns used to symbolise the Egyptian god Amun. Equivalent to Ammon + -ite.
From ammonium nitrate.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A fossil cephalopod shell related to the nautilus. There are many genera and species, and all are extinct, the typical forms having existed only in the Mesozoic age, when they were exceedingly numerous. They differ from the nautili in having the margins of the septa very much lobed or plaited, and the siphuncle dorsal. Also called serpent stone, snake stone, and cornu Ammonis.
Etymology [L. cornu Ammonis born of Ammon; L. Ammon, Gr. Amun.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “ammonite”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details