Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LAM'PREY, n. [Fr. lamproie; Sax. lampræda; G. lamprete; D. lamprei; Dan. lampret; Sp. and Port. lamprea; It. lampreda; W. lleiprog; Arm. lamprezenn. In. Arm. lampra signifies to slip or glide. In Welsh, lleipiaw, is to lick or lap, and lleipraw, to make flabby. If m is casual, which is probable, the Armoric lampra for lapra, coincides with L. labor, to slip, and most probably the animal is named from slipping. If, however, the sense is taken from licking the rocks; as Camden supposes, it accords with the sense of the technical name of the genus Petromyzon, the rock-sucker.]

The popular name of several species of Petromyzon, a genus of anguilliform fishes, resembling the eel, and moving in water by winding, like the serpent on land. This fish has seven spiracles on each side of the neck, and a fistula or aperture on the top of the head, but no pectoral or ventral fins. The marine or sea lamprey is sometimes found so large as to weigh four or five pounds. – Encyc.