WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Bys"sus
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [L. byssus fine flax, fine linen or cotton, Gr.
Definition : 1. A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients. It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk. [Written also byss and byssin.]

2. (Zo?l.)

Defn: A tuft of long, tough filaments which are formed in a groove of the foot, and issue from between the valves of certain bivalve mollusks, as the Pinna and Mytilus, by which they attach themselves to rocks, etc.

3. (Bot.)

Defn: An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of slender threads.

4. Asbestus.

pl. E. Byssuses(#); L. Byssi.(#)
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913