bufonite

English

Etymology

From Latin bufo (“toad”) + -ite. It was once believed to be formed in the head of a toad.

Noun

bufonite (plural bufonites)

1. (paleontology, obsolete) A fossil consisting of the petrified teeth and palatal bones of fishes belonging to the family of pycnodonts, whose remains occur in the oolite and chalk formations.

Synonyms

• toadstone

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “bufonite”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)