animalcule

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Top
(ăn'ə-măl'kyūl) pronunciation also an·i·mal·cu·lum (-kyə-ləm)
n., pl., -cules, also -cu·la (-kyə-lə).
  1. A microscopic or minute organism, such as an amoeba or paramecium, usually considered to be an animal.
  2. Archaic. A tiny animal, such as a mosquito.

[New Latin animalculum, diminutive of Latin animal, animal, from anima, soul. See anima.]


Word Tutor:

animalcule

Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: A microscopic creature.

pronunciation The animalcule was only visible under a microscope.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

Top

Animalcule ("little animal", from Latin animal + the diminutive suffix -culum) is an older term for a microscopic animal or protozoan. Some better-known animalcules include:

The term was also used by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, the 17th-century preformationist and discoverer of microorganisms, to describe spermatozoa.

The word appears in the Major-General's Song, in which Major-General Stanley sings, "I know the scientific names of beings animalculous..."

See also


Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights: