zooid
[zoh-oid]Biology
- any organic body or cell capable of spontaneous movement and of an existence more or less apart from or independent of the parent organism.
- any animal organism or individual capable of separate existence, and produced by fission, gemmation, or some method other than direct sexual reproduction.
- any one of the recognizably distinct individuals or elements of a compound or colonial animallike organism, whether or not detached or detachable.
- Also zo·oi·dal. pertaining to, resembling, or of the nature of an animal.
Origin of zooid
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for zooid
Historical Examples
A, Schematic longitudinal section through a zooid and bud of Stylophora digitata.
From this bud is developed the first zooid and first serial theca of the colony.
Mr. Busk, however, does not know of any gradations now existing between a zooid and an avicularium.
On the Origin of SpeciesCharles Darwin
The asexual stock, after budding off one asexual zooid, elongates again and buds off a second zooid.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume II (of 4)Francis Maitland Balfour
zooid
- any independent animal body, such as an individual of a coelenterate colony
- a motile cell or body, such as a gamete, produced by an organism
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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zooid
(zō′oid′)
- An organic cell or organized body that has independent movement within a living organism, especially a motile gamete such as a spermatozoon.
- An independent animallike organism produced asexually, as by budding or fission.
- One of the distinct individuals forming a colonial animal such as a coral.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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