coelom

American  

[see-luhm] / ˈsi ləm /

Or coelome

noun

Zoology.

coeloms, plural coelomata plural

1. the body cavity of higher metazoans, between the body wall and intestine, lined with a mesodermal epithelium.

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coelom British  

/ -ləm, sɪˈlɒmɪk, ˈsiːləʊm /

noun

1. the body cavity of many multicellular animals, situated in the mesoderm and containing the digestive tract and other visceral organs

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coelom Scientific  

/ sē′ləm /

1. The body cavity that forms from the mesoderm during the embryonic development of more complex animals. The coelom suspends the gut in fluid in the middle of the body, protecting it from gravity and allowing great increases in body size. The presence or absence of a coelom is important for the classification of animal phyla.

2. See more at deuterostome protostome

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• coelomic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• coelomata
  plural
• coeloms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of coelom

1875–80; < Greek koílōma cavity, equivalent to koilō-, variant stem of koiloûn to hollow out (verbal derivative of koîlos hollow) + -ma noun suffix denoting result