The Origin of Squid

Do you know where the word squid comes from?

Euprymna scolopes - image.pbio.v12.i02.g001
Because if you do, you’re the first. Dictionaries describe the etymology of the word as “obscure” and “unknown”. It just popped up in 1613 (shortly after the King James edition of the Bible came out) and stuck around. Before then, it seems they were lumped in with their cousins the cuttlefish – because one ten-tentacled sea-beastie is much like another.

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