Cnidian

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A member of the phylum Cnidaria, such as a jellyfish, sea anemone or coral ; describing anything that belongs to or relates to that group of stinging animals
2. An aquatic animal belonging to the Cnidaria, like a jellyfish or coral polyp ; of or connected with that phylum of stinging invertebrates
3. Any stinging water-dwelling creature in the phylum Cnidaria, including hydras and corals ; having the characteristics of or pertaining to that phylum

Etymology: Praxiteles, a classical Athenian sculptor, carved a statue of Aphrodite for the city of Cnidus that became famous as one of the first large Greek images of the goddess shown fully nude. Visitors sailed there specifically to see it, and the city's name became attached to the statue and to its people. "Cnidian" is simply the name of that city, Cnidus, on a peninsula in southwestern Anatolia (modern Turkey), plus the suffix "-ian", meaning "of or from." The name Cnidus has no securely known origin. Its look-alike, the Greek "knidē" meaning "nettle," is probably unrelated. That Greek word gave the modern zoological name for jellyfish and their relatives, the cnidarians, because of their stinging cells. Those two words are often confused, but they share only a spelling.