Anguilliform
/æŋˈɡwɪlɪfɔːrm/noun
Shaped like an eel, especially long, slender, and flexible.
Did you know?The word comes from Latin anguilla, “eel,” which is historically connected to anguis, “snake” or “serpent,” reflecting how ancient languages grouped these elongated animals together.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂engʷʰis
“Snake or serpent; a reconstructed ancestral form associated with several Indo-European serpent words.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ὄφις (óphis)
“Snake or serpent; the source of English scientific terms such as ophidian.”
Classical Latin
Latin
anguis
“Snake, serpent, or snake-like creature.”
Classical Latin
Latin
anguilla
“Eel, literally a diminutive or related form of anguīs.”
Scientific Latin
Neo-Latin
anguilliformis
“Eel-shaped, formed from anguilla, “eel,” and forma, “shape.””
19th Century
English
anguilliform
“Having the elongated, flexible form of an eel; adopted as a zoological descriptor.”