trilobite

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun an extinct arthropod that was abundant in Paleozoic times; had an exoskeleton divided into three parts

Borrowed from translingual Trilobita. By surface analysis, tri- (“three”) + lobe + -ite (“mineral, individual”), literally “three-lober”.

It was one of the early crustaceans called Trilobites. — A pair of blue eyes, Thomas Hardy
The trilobites, as he so well dubbed them, ah in control again. — Aladdin & Co.: A Romance of Yankee Magic, Herbert Quick
Instead of the rudimentary trilobites, I perceived the remains of a more perfect order. — A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jules Verne

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