Word.ws English Dictionary

coccolith

coccolith noun: a microscopic skeletal plate of calcite on the surface of certain marine phytoplankton; it forms chalk and limestone when fossilized. Also the alternative form of coccolite.

Noun

coccolith (plural coccoliths)

  1. A microscopic skeletal plate of calcite on the surface of certain marine phytoplankton; it forms chalk and limestone when fossilized

Also used as

coccolith is also the alternative form of coccolite.

Forms of coccolith

pluralcoccoliths

Origin of coccolith

Derived from coccolithophore. By surface analysis, Ancient Greek κόκκος (kókkos, “grain, seed”) + Ancient Greek λίθος (líthos, “stone”), due to the shape of the organism's exoskeleton.

From Ancient Greek κόκκος (kókkos, “kernel”) + -lith.

Words formed from coccolith

Questions about coccolith

What does coccolith mean?
Coccolith means a microscopic skeletal plate of calcite on the surface of certain marine phytoplankton; it forms chalk and limestone when fossilized.
What part of speech is coccolith?
Coccolith is a noun.
What is the plural of coccolith?
The plural of coccolith is coccoliths.

Words near coccolith in the dictionary

  1. coccoidean
  2. coccoideans
  3. coccoids
  4. coccolite
  5. coccolites
  6. coccolith
  7. coccolithic
  8. coccolithogenesis
  9. coccolithophore
  10. coccolithophores
  11. coccolithophorid

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: coccolith (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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