mollusc

M3O1L1L1U1S1C3
UK/ˈmɒləsk/US/ˈmɑləsk/

noun

A soft-bodied invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, typically with a hard shell of one or more pieces.

“bivalve molluscs”

Similar
little girlnose of waxpushovermolluskshellfish
OriginFrench mollusque ← New Latin Mollusca ← Latin molluscus →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Word of the Day · Nov 2, 2022

Meanings

nounmollusc (plural molluscs)

plural molluscs · alternative US mollusk · alternative archaic mollusque

  1. A soft-bodied invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, typically with a hard shell of one or more pieces.

    bivalve molluscs

    2 more examples

    For example, the antitumour depsipeptide kahalalide F was isolated from the opisthobranch mollusc Elysia rufescens, and is used by both the mollusc and its dietary alga Bryopsis spp.

    2016 January 21, “Choose Your Weaponry: Selective Storage of a Single Toxic Compound, Latrunculin A, by Closely Related Nudibranch Molluscs”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI

    Searching for hard-shelled prey – molluscs, crabs and the like – there are two species of bear otter in Kanapoi.

    2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 25
  2. figurativelyA weak-willed person.

    Synonyms: little girl, nose of wax, pushover

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA weak-willed person.

Similar
little girlnose of waxpushover
Broader
invertebrateanimal
Narrower
gastropodabaloneconchlimpetormerperiwinklesnailslugwhelkcephalopodcuttlefishnautilusoctopussquidbivalveclamcocklemusseloysterscallopchiton

More synonyms by meaning

nouninvertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell

Similar
molluskshellfish
Broader
invertebrate
Also see
little girlnose of waxpushovershellfish

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinmolluscus“thin-shelled”
  2. New LatinMollusca
  3. Frenchmollusque
  4. Englishmollusc

Borrowed from French mollusque, from New Latin Mollusca (phylum name), from Latin molluscus (“thin-shelled”), from mollis (“soft”).

More words from French, New Latin, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans weekdier
  • weekdiersoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Arabic رِخْوِيّ
  • رِخْوِيّ (riḵwiyy)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Bengali খোলকী
  • খোলকী (khōloki)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Bulgarian мекоте́ло
  • мекоте́ло (mekotélo)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Catalan mol·lusc
  • mol·luscsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Chinese Mandarin 軟體動物 /软体动物
  • 軟體動物 /软体动物 (ruǎntǐ dòngwù)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Czech měkkýš
  • měkkýšsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Danish bløddyr, mollusk
  • bløddyrsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • mollusksoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Dutch weekdier, mollusk
  • weekdiersoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • mollusksoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Esperanto molusko
  • moluskosoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Estonian mollusk
  • mollusksoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Finnish nilviäinen
  • nilviäinensoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
French mollusque
  • mollusquesoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
German Weichtier, Molluske
  • Weichtiersoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Molluskesoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Greek μαλάκιο
  • μαλάκιο (malákio)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Hebrew רַכִּיכָה
  • רַכִּיכָה (rakikhá)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Hindi सीप, मोलस्क
  • सीप (sīp)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • मोलस्क (molask)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Hungarian puhatestű
  • puhatestűsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Icelandic lindýr
  • lindýrsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Indonesian moluska
  • moluskasoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Irish moileasc
  • moileascsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Italian mollusco
  • molluscosoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Japanese 軟体動物
  • 軟体動物 (nantai dōbutsu)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Korean 연체동물
  • 연체동물 (yeonchedongmul)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Latin molluscum
  • molluscumsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Latvian molusks, gliemis
  • moluskssoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • gliemissoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Lithuanian moliuskas, minkštakūnis
  • moliuskassoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • minkštakūnissoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Malay moluska
  • moluskasoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Māori kaiwhao
  • kaiwhaosoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Norwegian Bokmål bløtdyr
  • bløtdyrsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Polish mięczak
  • mięczaksoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Portuguese molusco
  • moluscosoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Punjabi ਮੋਲਸਕਾ
  • ਮੋਲਸਕਾ (molsakā)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Romanian moluscă
  • moluscăsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Russian моллю́ск, мягкоте́лый
  • моллю́ск (molljúsk)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • мягкоте́лый (mjaxkotélyj)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Slovak mäkkýš
  • mäkkýšsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Spanish molusco
  • moluscosoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Swedish blötdjur, mollusk
  • blötdjursoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • mollusksoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Tagalog molusk, kumabibi
  • molusksoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • kumabibisoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Thai หอย
  • หอย (hɔ̌i)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Turkish yumuşakça
  • yumuşakçasoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Ukrainian молю́ск, м'якоті́лий
  • молю́ск (moljúsk)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • м'якоті́лий (mʺjakotílyj)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Urdu مولَسْک
  • مولَسْک (molask)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Vietnamese động vật thân mềm
  • động vật thân mềmsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Welsh meddalog
  • meddalogsoft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Yiddish מאָללוסק
  • מאָללוסק (mollusk)soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Collums
Cite this entry
APA

mollusc. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mollusc

MLA

“mollusc.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mollusc. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mollusc,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mollusc.

Source: mollusc on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.