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animalcule

[an-uh-mal-kyool]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR animalcule ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a minute or microscopic animal, nearly or quite invisible to the naked eye, as an infusorian or rotifer.

Archaic. a tiny animal, as a mouse or fly.

Origin of animalcule

First recorded in 1590–1600, animalcule is from the New Latin word animalculum a small animal. See animal, -cule¹

Related formsan·i·mal·cu·lar

[an-uh-mal-kyuh-ler] /ˌæn əˈmæl kyə lər/, an·i·mal·cu·line

[an-uh-mal-kyuh-lin] /ˌæn əˈmæl kyə lɪn/, an·i·mal·cu·lous, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for animalcule

animalculum, n, animalcule

Examples from the Web for animalcule

Historical Examples of animalcule

The microscope cannot find the animalcule which is less perfect for being little.
Essays, First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
His first form is that which is permanent in the animalcule.
A Theory of Creation: A Review of 'Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation'
Francis Bowen
But man contemplates the universe as an animalcule would an elephant.
Zanoni
Edward Bulwer Lytton
An animalcule that does not wriggle must be morbid or peculiar.
The Daughters of Danaus
Mona Caird
In the light of such a rle the animalcule takes on a new interest.
A History of Science, Volume 5(of 5)
Henry Smith Williams

British Dictionary definitions for animalcule

animalcule

animalculum (ˌænɪˈmælkjʊləm)

noun plural -cules or -cula (-kjʊlə)

a microscopic animal such as an amoeba or rotifer

Derived Formsanimalcular, adjective

Word Origin for animalcule

C16: from New Latin animalculum a small animal

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for animalcule

n.

"very small animal," especially a microscopic one, 1590s, from Late Latin animalculum, diminutive of Latin animal (see animal (n.)). Related: Animalcular.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper