noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A respiratory system, in the form of a comb, in some molluscs
2. 2
   comb-like respiratory structure serving as the gill of certain mollusks wordnet
3. 3
   A row of spines in some insects

Etymology

Borrowed from Byzantine Greek κτενίδιον (ktenídion, “comb”). By surface analysis, cteno- + -idium.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.