different between oyster vs mussel

English

Alternative forms

• erster (New York City and New Orleans)
• oister (obsolete)
• oystre (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which is from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ??????? (óstreon).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???.st?(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???.st?/
• Rhymes: -??st?(?)

Noun

oyster (plural oysters)

1. Any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in shallow water along the seacoasts, or in brackish water in the mouth of rivers.
   • 1731, Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation, 1841, The Works of Jonathan Swift, Volume 2, page 344,

     He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.

2. The delicate morsel of dark meat contained in a small cavity of the bone on each side of the lower part of the back of a fowl.
3. A pale beige color tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.

4. (colloquial, by analogy) A person who keeps secrets.
5. (Britain, slang) A shoplifter.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

oyster (comparative more oyster, superlative most oyster)

1. Of a pale beige colour tinted with grey or pink, like that of an oyster.

Verb

oyster (third-person singular simple present oysters, present participle oystering, simple past and past participle oystered)

1. (intransitive) To fish for oysters.

See also

• astragalus
• bluepoint
• carpetbag steak
• clam
• lungwort
• mussel
• Ostreidae
• salsify
• spat
• Appendix:Colors

References

• oyster at OneLook Dictionary Search
• oyster on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Storey, Troyes, oystre, storey, toyers, tyroes

English

Etymology

From Latin m?sculus (“mussel or muscle”, literally “little mouse”). Doublet of muscle.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /?m?s?l/
• Rhymes: -?s?l
• Homophone: muscle

Noun

mussel (plural mussels)

1. Any of several groups of bivalve shellfish with elongated, asymmetrical shells
   1. fresh water mussels, usually edible, of the order Unionida in subclass Palaeoheterodonta.
   2. salt water mussels, usually edible, of the order Mytilida in subclass Pteriomorphia.
   3. Certain other bivalves of somewhat similar appearance, such as the zebra mussel and quagga mussel of the family Dreissenidae in subclass Heterodonta.

Derived terms

Related terms

• mouse

Translations

References

• mussel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia