Plants & CreaturesGreek → English
Ostracod
/ˈɒstrəkɒd/noun
A tiny crustacean whose body is enclosed in a hinged two-part shell, abundant in fresh water and the sea.
The Greek roots
ὄστρακον
óstrakon
shell, potsherd
Literally: “shelled one”
Follow a root:ὄστρακον3 words
The story of the word
The root is the potsherd Athenians scratched a name onto when voting a man into exile, which is why ostracism and this seed-sized crustacean are relatives. Their hinged carapaces fossilise beautifully, so oil geologists date rock layers by them. Some deep-sea species squirt clouds of blue light when attacked, and Japanese soldiers once read maps by crushing dried ones in wet palms.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific Latin → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
ostracismoysterosteology
In a sentence
A single core sample held thousands of ostracod valves.
Ostracods flicker across the tank whenever the light moves.