jellyfish
n. countablen. a sea animal with a soft, clear body that looks like jelly and long, thin tentacles. Some of them can give you a painful sting if you touch them.
n. a free-swimming marine coelenterate with a gelatinous bell- or saucer-shaped body and stinging tentacles. Often used as a collective noun when referring to a group in a biological context.
We saw a large jellyfish floating near the shore.
The beach was closed to swimmers after several people reported being stung by a jellyfish in the shallow water.
While most species are harmless to humans, the translucent body of the box jellyfish contains a potent venom that can cause severe physiological distress within minutes of contact.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gel- Latin gelū Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin gelō ▲ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Latin -āta Early Medieval Latin gelāta Old French geleebor. Middle English gele English jelly Proto-Indo-European *péysks Proto-Germanic *fiskaz Proto-West Germanic *fisk Old English fisċ Middle English fisch English fish English jellyfish From jelly + fish. From being an aquatic creature (i.e. fish) that is gelatinous (“jelly”). Despite the name, jellyfish are not biologically classified as fish. The term appeared in the mid-19th century and displaced various older terms such as sea jelly (now much less common), blubber/sea blubber, nettle/sea nettle (both now referring to specific jellyfish species), and, in scientific literature, medusa.
The plural form can be either 'jellyfish' or 'jellyfishes', though 'jellyfish' is more common when referring to a group of the same species.