A member of Cancridae, the family of crabs including the common edible crabs found in North America and Europe.
From Latin 'cancer' (crab) plus the biological suffix '-id' (a member of). Created using Linnaean nomenclature to classify crabs scientifically.
Every time a scientist calls a crab a 'cancrid,' they're using a 2,000-year-old Latin word—the Romans saw crabs and called them 'cancer,' and we kept that name even after we learned that cancer the disease isn't actually caused by crabs.
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