Standard Lemma guide

mollusc

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɒləsk/
  • General-American: /ˈmɑləsk/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A soft-bodied invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, typically with a hard shell of one or more pieces.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • bivalve molluscs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: invertebrate, animal, organism, creature

2

noun

Meaning 2

A weak-willed person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: little girl, nose of wax, pushover

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

invertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mollusk, shellfish

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: invertebrate

Narrower terms: scaphopod, gastropod, univalve, chiton, coat-of-mail shell, sea cradle, polyplacophore, bivalve, pelecypod, lamellibranch, cephalopod, cephalopod mollusk

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French mollusque, from New Latin Mollusca (phylum name), from Latin molluscus (“thin-shelled”), from mollis (“soft”).

Across languages

Translations

92 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Abenaki: als — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Afrikaans: weekdier — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Albanian: butak — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Arabic: رِخْوِيّ (riḵwiyy) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Armenian: կակղամորթ (kakġamortʻ) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Armenian: մոլյուսկ (molyusk) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Armenian: փափկամորթ (pʻapʻkamortʻ) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Asturian: moluscu — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Azerbaijani: molyusk — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Belarusian: малю́ск (maljúsk) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Belarusian: мяккаце́лы (mjakkacjély) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Bengali: খোলকী (khōloki) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Breton: blotvil — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Bulgarian: мекоте́ло (mekotélo) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Burmese: ခရု (hka.ru.) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Catalan: mol·lusc — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Cherokee: ᎼᎸᏍᎩ (molvsgi) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Chinese Mandarin: 軟體動物 /软体动物 (ruǎntǐ dòngwù) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Czech: měkkýš — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Danish: bløddyr — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Danish: mollusk — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Dutch: weekdier — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Dutch: mollusk — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Esperanto: molusko — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Estonian: mollusk — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Finnish: nilviäinen — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • French: mollusque — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Galician: molusco — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Georgian: მოლუსკი (molusḳi) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • German: Weichtier — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • German: Molluske — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Greek: μαλάκιο (malákio) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Haitian Creole: molisc — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Hebrew: רַכִּיכָה (rakikhá) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Hindi: सीप (sīp) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Hindi: मोलस्क (molask) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Hungarian: puhatestű — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Icelandic: lindýr — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Ido: molusko — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Indonesian: moluska — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Irish: moileasc — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Italian: mollusco — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Japanese: 軟体動物 (nantai dōbutsu) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Kannada: ಮೃದ್ವಂಗಿ (mṛdvaṅgi) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Kazakh: жұмсақденелі (jūmsaqdenelı) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Khmer: ខ្យង (khyɑɑng) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Korean: 연체동물 (yeonchedongmul) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Kyrgyz: моллюск (mollyusk) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Lao: ຫອຽ (hǭi) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Lao: ຫອຍ (hǭi) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Lao: ສັງຂາ (sang khā) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Latin: molluscum — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Latvian: molusks — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Latvian: gliemis — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Lithuanian: moliuskas — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Lithuanian: minkštakūnis — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Macedonian: мекотел (mekotel) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Malay: moluska — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Malayalam: മൊളസ്ക (moḷaska) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Māori: kaiwhao — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Mongolian: нальахн хорхой (nalʹaxn xorxoj) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bløtdyr — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Occitan: molusc — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Iranian Persian: نَرْمتَن (narm-tan) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Iranian Persian: نَرْمتَنان (narm-tanân) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Polish: mięczak — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Portuguese: molusco — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Punjabi: ਮੋਲਸਕਾ (molsakā) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Romanian: moluscă — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Russian: моллю́ск (molljúsk) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Russian: мягкоте́лый (mjaxkotélyj) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Serbo-Croatian: меку́шац — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Serbo-Croatian: mekúšac — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Slovak: mäkkýš — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Slovene: mehkužec — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Spanish: molusco — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Swedish: blötdjur — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Swedish: mollusk — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Tagalog: molusk — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Tagalog: kumabibi — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Tajik: моллюск (mollyusk) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Thai: หอย (hɔ̌i) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Turkish: yumuşakça — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Turkmen: mollýusk — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Ukrainian: молю́ск (moljúsk) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Ukrainian: м'якоті́лий (mʺjakotílyj) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Urdu: مولَسْک (molask) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Uzbek: mollyusk — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Vietnamese: động vật thân mềm — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Walloon: molusse — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Welsh: meddalog — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
  • Yiddish: מאָללוסק (mollusk) — soft-bodied invertebrate of phylum Mollusca — see also clam, oyster, mussel
Real reading context

mollusc in complete knowledge articles