Meaning

noun a conical calcareous fossil tapering to a point at one end and with a conical cavity at the other end containing (when unbroken) a small chambered phragmocone from the shell of any of numerous extinct

originEtymology tree Ancient Greek βέλεμνον (bélemnon) Proto-Indo-European *-tósder. Ancient Greek -της (-tēs)der. Ancient Greek -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs)der. Latin -ītēsbor. French -iteder. English -ite English belemnite From Ancient Greek βέλεμνον (bélemnon, “dart, arrow”) + English -ite.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0