Fern Spelling Dictionary

two changes at once

licopodum, with the y and the i both gone

lycopodium.

heard licopodumwritten lycopodium2 of 10 positions differtwo changes at once

two changes at once

The two letters missing here are the two that carry the meaning. The y makes lykos, a wolf. The i makes podium, a foot. Together they are the reason a low creeping plant on a Yorkshire moor is named after an animal's paw, and if you write the word without them it stops describing anything. The English name is doing the same job by other means: a clubmoss, for the club-shaped cones the wolf's foot holds up.

The class

Two separate decisions about the letters, both made at once.

Same name

The name