animalcule

American  

[an-uh-mal-kyool] / ˌæn əˈmæl kyul /

noun

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

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

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animalcule British  

/ ˌænɪˈmælkjuːl, ˌænɪˈmælkjʊləm /

noun

1. a microscopic animal such as an amoeba or rotifer

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Other Word Forms

• animalcular adjective
• animalculine adjective
• animalculous adjective

Etymology

Origin of animalcule

First recorded in 1590–1600, animalcule is from the New Latin word animalculum “a small animal.” See animal, -cule ¹

Example Sentences

The last time this tiny wheel animalcule was moving around, wooly mammoths roamed the earth.

From Scientific American • Aug. 17, 2021

And then there are the names: where its cultural presence permits, each animal or animalcule is followed by a list of folk nomenclature.

From The Guardian • Jun. 11, 2010

The crablike animalcule is most at home burrowing under the skins of people who do not wash much.

From Time Magazine Archive

Malaria's cause is known: a tiny animalcule injected by a mosquito's sting.

From Time Magazine Archive

The whole of the universe made visible by Lord Rosse's telescope actually shrinks to the dimensions of an animalcule in the comparison.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. 22, March, 1852, Volume 4. by