Zool. [mod.L. f. Gr. ἀμφί on both sides + ὀξύς sharp, i.e., sharpened or tapering at both ends.] A genus of fishes, consisting of a single species, called also the Lancelet, which is placed at the very bottom of the series, and has even been denied to be a vertebrate animal.
1836. Yarrell, in Penny Cycl., 1st Supp. 233/1. The Lancelet, Amphioxus lanceolatus.
1847. Carpenter, Zool., § 585. The most imperfectly formed of all Fish is, probably, the Amphioxus or Lancelet.
1881. Athenæum, 15 Jan., 98/2. We cannot regard Amphioxus as a fish.
