Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The representative genus of the family Ianthinidæ; the oceanic violet-snails.
  • noun [lowercase] A violet-snail.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any gastropod of the genus Ianthina, of which various species are found living in mid ocean; -- called also purple shell, and violet snail.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of the family Janthinidae of violet snails.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin

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Examples

  • Crystal cones form the shells of pteropods or winged snails hat drift downward from the surface to these dim regions by day; and the translucent spires of lovely ianthina are tinged with Tyrian purple.

    Undersea (historical) Rachel Louise Carson 2007

  • This colour was also procured from a species of shell-fish, the chelzon of the Hebrews, and the Helix ianthina of modern naturalists.

    Easton's Bible Dictionary M.G. Easton 1897

  • _Murex trunculus_; the _Murex brandaris_; and the _Helix ianthina_.

    History of Phoenicia George Rawlinson 1857

  • The _Helix ianthina_ has a wholly different character.

    History of Phoenicia George Rawlinson 1857

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