car·di·ta \kärˈdīd.ə, -ˈē-\noun Etymology: New Latin, from Greek kardia heart + Latin -ita -ite 1.capitalized: a genus (the type of the family Carditidae) of marine lamellibranch mollusks resembling the cockles but lacking siphons and having a short foot 2.-s: any mollusk of the genus Cardita