lamprey

From Middle English laumprei, adopted from Old French lampreie (Modern lamproie), from Medieval Latin lampreda, possibly alteration of Late Latin lampetra (“lamprey”), whose further origin is unknown, though is traditionally thought to be a combination of lambō (“I lick, lap”) +‎ petra (“stone, rock”). Doublet of limpet, which came straightway from Latin.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlæm.pɹi/, /ˈlæm.pɹeɪ/

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• Hyphenation: lam‧prey

lamprey (countable and uncountable, plural lampreys)

1. Any long slender primitive eel-like freshwater and saltwater fish of the Petromyzontidae family, having a sucking mouth with rasping teeth but no jaw.

• lamprey in Oxford English Dictionary, volume VI, 1908
• lamprey in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

• Parmley, palmery