A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Echinus,-i (s.m.II), abl.sg. echino: L. echinus,-i (s.m.II) = Gk. echinos, 1. the (edible) sea-urchin, Echinus esculentus L.; the land-urchin, = erinaceus,-i, q.v. (Lewis & Short); “a sea-urchin; the prickly pericarp of a chestnut; an article of table-ware” (Glare); Gk. Echinos (s.m.II): the urchin, hedgehog; the sea-urchin; the shell of the sea-urchin, often used as a cup: then like Lat. ‘testa,’ a pot, jug, pitcher” (Liddell & Scott); see erinaceus,-i (s.m.II); see hedgehog.

NOTE: echinus,-i (s.m.II), refers both to the sea-urchin, an echinoderm, and the land-urchin, the mammalian hedgehog.

NOTE: ‘urchin’ as an Eng.noun = a sea urchin; also (archaic) hedgehog (WIII).

Echinus,-i (s.m.II), Linnaeus, 1758, a genus of sea-urchins (echinoderms).

Family Echinidae (Echin- + -idae). Other genera in this family include Dermechinus, Gracilechinus, Polyechinus, Sterechinus and Stirechinus.

NOTE: ‘-echinus’ is used in genus noun compounds in the mammalian Hedgehog Family Erinaceidae,-i(s.m.II): Hemiechinus, Mesechinus, Paraechinus; see Erinaceus,-i (s.m.II), hedgehog.