Byssus means both "a rare fabric, also called " and its fiber source "a silky filament by which certain mollusks attach themselves to hard surfaces". Word The English term byssus or bissus (plural byssuses or byssi) originated in John Trevisa's translation (1398) of Bartholomeus Anglicus's Latin On the Properties of Things (1240), referring to finest white flax from Egypt. From originally meaning "fine linen", the semantics of byssus gradually expanded. The etymology of, according to the OED2, b… (More on Byssus)