Selachian
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any organism of the superorder Selachimorpha or subclass Elasmobranchii; an extant shark (or related species).
"However, some selachians enter freshwater and a few, like the stingray Paratrygon motoro, are even restricted to freshwater."
- 2 any of numerous fishes of the class Chondrichthyes characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton and placoid scales: sharks, rays, skates wordnet
- 1 Pertaining to (what is now classified as) the superorder Selachimorpha or division Selachii, comprising the sharks; or, sometimes more broadly, to the subclass Elasmobranchii, including sharks, rays and related species.
"Fig. 4-10 shows crude apparatus which was used to make rough measurements of the vertical forces produced by selachian tails."
- 2 Sharklike.
"These two tours had whetted the colonies' appetite for Royal visits, and by the turn of the century that appetite was positively selachian."
Example
More examples"Fig. 4-10 shows crude apparatus which was used to make rough measurements of the vertical forces produced by selachian tails."
Etymology
From the (disused) genus name Selache, from Latin selachē, from the plural of Ancient Greek σέλαχος (sélakhos, “shark”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.