Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
byssus, beard
(noun) tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself fast to a fixed surface
Source: WordNet® 3.1
byssi
plural of byssus
Source: Wiktionary
Bys"sus, n.; pl. E. Byssuses(#); L. Byssi.(#) Etym: [L. byssus fine flax, fine linen or cotton, Gr.
1. A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients. It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk. [Written also byss and byssin.]
2. (Zoöl.)
Definition: A tuft of long, tough filaments which are formed in a groove of the foot, and issue from between the valves of certain bivalve mollusks, as the Pinna and Mytilus, by which they attach themselves to rocks, etc.
3. (Bot.)
Definition: An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of slender threads.
4. Asbestus.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
3 April 2025
(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”
Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.