‖ modiola Nat. Hist.
(məʊˈdaɪələ)
[mod.L., alteration of L. modiolus modiolus.]
1. Zool. A genus of mussels (Lamarck); a mussel of this genus. Cf. modiolus 2.
| 1826 Crouch Introd. Lamarck's Conchol. 18. 1839 Sowerby Conch. Man. 1841 H. Miller O.R. Sandst. xiv. (1842) 294 We may find the ancient modiola of the Lias in habitats analogous to those of its modern representative the muscle. 1876 Beneden's Anim. Parasites 16 We have opened hundreds of these modiolæ, and we have never met with any without their crabs. |
2. Bot. A genus of Malvaceæ (Mönch 1794).
Named from the whorled position of the carpels, resembling the nave of a wheel.
| 1846 Lindley Veg. Kingd. 370. a 1865 Paxton Bot. Dict. (1868), Modiola, from Modiolus, the nave of a wheel, whorled position of carpels... Nat. or. Malvaceæ. |