Meanings
plural coelacanths · alternative obsolete cœlacanth
- Any of the class Actinistia of primitive lobe-finned fish in the order Coelacanthiformes—thought to have been extinct for 70 million years until a living specimen was discovered in 1938. Most species are large and plump and they all have bodies covered in tough elasmoid scales that act as armor.
Among them were ancient relatives of the piranhas and those popular aquarium fish the tetras, along with garfish and freshwater coelacanths, known as mawsonids.
2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 32
Synonyms & antonyms
nounEither of the two extant species in this group; the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) or the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis).
More synonyms by meaning
nounfish thought to have been extinct since the Cretaceous period but found in 1938 off the coast of Africa
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekκοῖλος“hollow”
- Englishcoelacanth
From the New Latin genus name Coelacanthus, from Ancient Greek κοῖλος (koîlos, “hollow”) + ἄκανθα (ákantha, “spine”), referring to the hollow caudal fin rays of the first fossil specimen described and named by Louis Agassiz in 1839.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Cantonese 矛尾魚 /矛尾鱼
- 矛尾魚 /矛尾鱼either of two species of deep-water fish
Chinese Mandarin 矛尾魚 /矛尾鱼
- 矛尾魚 /矛尾鱼 (máowěiyú)either of two species of deep-water fish
Finnish latimeria
- latimeriaeither of two species of deep-water fish
French cœlacanthe
- cœlacantheeither of two species of deep-water fish
German Quastenflosser
- Quastenflossereither of two species of deep-water fish
Greek κοιλάκανθος
- κοιλάκανθος (koilákanthos)either of two species of deep-water fish
Hungarian bojtosúszós maradványhal
- bojtosúszós maradványhaleither of two species of deep-water fish
Indonesian ikan raja laut
- ikan raja lauteither of two species of deep-water fish
Italian celacanto
- celacantoeither of two species of deep-water fish
Japanese シーラカンス
- シーラカンス (shīrakansu)either of two species of deep-water fish
Polish latimeria
- latimeriaeither of two species of deep-water fish
Portuguese celacanto
- celacantoeither of two species of deep-water fish
Romanian celacant
- celacanteither of two species of deep-water fish
Russian целака́нт, латиме́рия
- целака́нт (celakánt)either of two species of deep-water fish
- латиме́рия (latimérija)either of two species of deep-water fish
Spanish celacanto
- celacantoeither of two species of deep-water fish
Swedish kvastfening, havstofsstjärt
- kvastfeningeither of two species of deep-water fish
- havstofsstjärteither of two species of deep-water fish
- tofsstjärtfiskeither of two species of deep-water fish
- blå kvastfeningeither of two species of deep-water fish
Vietnamese cá vây tay
- cá vây tayeither of two species of deep-water fish
Cite this entry
coelacanth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coelacanth
“coelacanth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coelacanth. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “coelacanth,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coelacanth.
Source: coelacanth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.