Mercenaria mercenaria
- noun
- Specialized
:
mercenaria
- Large Mercenaria mercenaria are often harvested along the Atlantic coast for use in chowders.
Examples
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Many Native American tribes used Mercenaria mercenaria as a form of currency.
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The Mercenaria mercenaria is often found along the Atlantic coast.
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Some Native American tribes valued Mercenaria mercenaria shells for making wampum.
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The scientist identified the shell as belonging to Mercenaria mercenaria.
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Large Mercenaria mercenaria are often harvested along the Atlantic coast for use in chowders.
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Many Native American tribes used Mercenaria mercenaria as a form of currency.
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Some Native American tribes valued Mercenaria mercenaria shells for making wampum.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A large round clam with a hard shell that people eat on the east coast of North America
A large edible clam with a hard shell that was used as money by some Native American tribes
A large edible clam from the Atlantic coast whose shell was once used as money by Native Americans
A North American clam with a thick hard shell that is eaten as food
A large clam you can eat with a hard rounded shell
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a Latin taxonomic binomial (genus + species) repeating the genus name; if a learner knows 'Mercenaria' means 'marine clams', they can readily infer this refers to a particular kind of clam (a large edible clam). Taxonomic naming is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern, so the overall meaning is transparently derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
Mercenaria mercenaria may come from a Latin word that means 'money'. Native American people once used its hard shells as shell money called 'wampum', so the name links the clam to 'money' and helps you remember this species.