Where does “Mollusca” come from?
Mollusca (New Latin) comes from Latin molluscus, from Latin mollis, from Latin molduis, from Proto-Italic moldus, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥dus, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meld- — to soften, to melt.
Ancestry of “Mollusca”, step by step
Words derived from “Mollusca”