animalcule
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
1- Also called an·i·mal·cu·lum [an-uh-mal-kyuh-luhm] /ˌæn əˈmæl kyə ləm/ .
Other words from animalcule
- an·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
Words Nearby animalcule
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use animalcule in a sentence
This is a one-celled animal known as the paramœcium or the slipper animalcule (because of its shape).
A Civic Biology | George William HunterIndeed, too sadly so, and I dare apply but a flash of the microscope to the rageing dilemmas of this animalcule.
Rhoda Fleming, Complete | George MeredithThese movements are termed amoebiform, because they quite resemble the movements of a small animalcule which is named amoeba.
Young Folks' Library, Volume XI (of 20) | VariousShall physical or chemical forces explain why the animalcule digs into the hard clay?
The Life of the Fly | J. Henri FabreAt one end of the ascending scale of organic life we see an animalcule swimming in the direction in which it is attracted by food.
Parallel Paths | Thomas William Rolleston
British Dictionary definitions for animalcule
animalculum (ˌænɪˈmælkjʊləm)
/ (ˌænɪˈmælkjuːl) /
a microscopic animal such as an amoeba or rotifer
Origin of animalcule
1Derived forms of animalcule
- animalcular, adjective
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
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