coelacanth

UK: /ˈsiːləˌkænθ/ US: (sē′lə kanth′)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

coe•la•canth  (sē′lə kanth′), n. 

1. Fish a crossopterygian fish, Latimeria chalumnae, thought to have been extinct since the Cretaceous Period but found in 1938 off the coast of southern Africa.

• Neo-Latin Coelacanthus origin, originally a genus name, equivalent. to coel- coel- + Greek -akanthos -spined, -thorned, adjective, adjectival deriv of ákantha spine, thorn
• 1605–15;

coe•la•can•thine  (sē′lə kan′thīn, -thin), adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

coelacanth / ˈsiːləˌkænθ/ noun

1. a primitive marine bony fish of the genus Latimeria (subclass Crossopterygii), having fleshy limblike pectoral fins and occurring off the coast of E Africa: thought to be extinct until a living specimen was discovered in 1938

Etymology: 19th Century: from New Latin coelacanthus, literally: hollow spine, from coel- + Greek akanthos spine