Webster's English Dictionary

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mussel

mus.sel \'m*s-*l\ n [ME muscle, fr. OE muscelle; akin to OHG muscula 
   mussel; both] often attrib  fr. a prehistoric WGmc word borrowed fr. 
   (assumed) VL muscula, fr. L musculus muscle, mussel 1: a marine bivalve 
   mollusk (esp. genus Mytilus) usu. having a dark e longated shell 2: a 
   freshwater bivalve mollusk (as of Unio, Anodonta, or relat ed genera) esp. 
   abundant in rivers of the central U.S. having a shell with a lustrous 
   nacreous lining