A fossilized tongue-shaped stone, historically believed to be petrified animal tongues but actually fossilized shark teeth.
From Greek 'glossa' (tongue) + 'petra' (stone). Medieval and Renaissance scholars genuinely believed these smooth stones were solidified tongues, not realizing they were examining ancient shark teeth until paleontology advanced.
People used to wear these as amulets thinking they had magical healing powers! It wasn't until scientists got better at examining fossils that everyone realized they'd been admiring shark teeth for centuries—what an embarrassing mix-up.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.