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nau·pli·us

(nôplē-əs)

n. pl. nau·pli·i(-plē-ī′)

The free-swimming first stage of the larva of certain crustaceans, having an unsegmented body with three pairs of appendages and a single median eye.

[New Latin, from Nauplius, former genus of crustacean (later discovered to be a larval stage of other genera), from Latin nauplius, paper nautilus, from Greek nauplios, nautilus (probably the pearly nautilus of the Indian Ocean) : naus, nau-, ship; see nāu- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + plein, to sail, float, swim (the animal being so called because it was thought to sail in its shell like a ship and use its arms as oars); see pleu- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

naupli·al (-əl) adj.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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