Dictionary

dentalium en · NOUN

Etymology

Borrowed from translingual Dentalium, from Latin dentālis (“dental”), dēns (“tooth”), Proto-Italic *dents and Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts.

Meanings

1. Any of various tooth shells of the genus Dentalium.
   • Apart from the two or three bird masks, the only other zoomorphic mask was a wolf frontlet of cedar decorated in micaceous black paint with dentalium teeth, dentalium being an important form of wealth with some of the attributes of a currency. 1999, Jonathan C. H. King, First Peoples, First Contacts: Native Peoples of North America, page 138:

Forms

Relateds

Dentalium

Translations (4)

cmn 角貝 /角贝 (individual of the genus Dentalium) · ky деңизазуу (individual of the genus Dentalium) · ca dent de mar (individual of the genus Dentalium) · cmn 象牙貝 /象牙贝 (individual of the genus Dentalium)