ˈthāə̇s noun
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, after Thais, 4th century B.C. Greek hetaera, from Latin, from Greek Thaïs
: a widely distributed genus that comprises marine snails with a rough thick shell sometimes ornamented with tubercles and is sometimes made the type of a distinct family but is usually placed in Muricidae — see dog whelk , purpura