limpet

English

Alternative forms

• limpin (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle English lempet, from Old English lempedu (“lamprey”), borrowed from Medieval Latin lampreda, alteration of Late Latin lampetra (“lamprey”), whose further origin is unknown, though is traditionally thought to derive from lambō (“I lick, lap”) + petra (“stone, rock”). Doublet of lamprey, which came through Old French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪm.pɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  * Rhymes: -ɪmpɪt

Noun

Common limpets (Patella vulgata) in Pembrokeshire, Wales

limpet (plural limpets)

1. A small mollusc, of the family Patellidae with a conical shell found clinging to rocks in the intertidal zones of rocky shores.
2. (British) Someone clingy or dependent; someone disregarding or ignorant of another's personal space.

   He stuck to me like a limpet all day!

Derived terms

• black limpet
• duck's-bill limpet
• keyhole limpet
• keyhole limpet hemocyanin
• limpet mine

 

Translations

a small mollusc

• Basque: lapa (eu)
• Breton: brennigenn (br) f
• Catalan: pagellida f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 帽貝 / 帽贝 (mào bèi), 笠螺 (lì luó), 笠貝 / 笠贝 (lì bèi)

• Cornish: (collective) brennik, brenigen
• Czech: přílipka f
• Danish: albueskæl n
• Dutch: napslak f
• Finnish: maljakotilo
• French: patelle (fr) f, lampotte (fr) f, bernique (fr) m
• Galician: lapa (gl) f, patela f
• German: Napfschnecke f
• Greek: πεταλίδα (el) f (petalída)

  Ancient: λεπάς f (lepás)

• Hungarian: csészecsiga, tapadókagyló
• Irish: bairneach m
• Italian: patella f
• Korean: 삿갓조개 (satgatjogae)
• Latin: mītulus m
• Macedonian: прилепец m (prilepec)
• Maori: ngākihi, kākihi, piritoka
• Norman: baîni m (Jersey), fllie f (Guernsey)
• Portuguese: lapa (pt) f
• Russian: блю́дечко (моллю́ск) n (bljúdečko (molljúsk)), морско́е блю́дечко (morskóje bljúdečko)
• Scottish Gaelic: bàirneach m
• Serbo-Croatian: priljepak (sh) m
• Spanish: lapa (es) f
• Swedish: skålsnäcka c
• Vietnamese: con sao sao
• Welsh: llygad maharen m, cragen maharen f, brennig f pl, cogwrn m

someone dependant

• Catalan: paparra (ca) f
• Finnish: iiliäinen (fi)
• Galician: lapa (gl) f
• German: Anhang (de) m, Anhängsel (de) n
• Hungarian: pióca (hu), kullancs (hu), bogáncs (hu), függelék (hu)
• Serbo-Croatian: priljepak (sh) m

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “limpet”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

• limpet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Patellidae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• timple