ascidian

[ uh-sid-ee-uh n ]

/ əˈsɪd i ən /

Zoology

noun

any solitary or colonial tunicate of the class Ascidiacea, exhibiting in the larval stage the vertebrate characteristics of a notocord and hollow nerve cord.

adjective

belonging or pertaining to the class Ascidiacea.

Nearby words

Origin of ascidian

1855–60; < New Latin Ascidi(um) a tunicate genus (see ascidium) + -an

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

Examples from the Web for ascidian

Even if necessity quickened his instincts, he would yet have ceased to be a man, and would be retrograding back to the ascidian.
Modern Skepticism|C. J. Ellicott
Chabry had published in 1887 some interesting results on the Ascidian egg, which strongly supported the Roux-Weismann theory.
Form and Function|E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
Now, in all the long line, from the ascidian upwards to man, nature had supplied none but physical wants.
Modern Skepticism|C. J. Ellicott
Appendicularia is a curious little Ascidian, differing from all the others in its possession of a tail.
Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And Work|P. Chalmers Mitchell

The beginning of man an ascidian—his ultimate development as an angel, a pear-shaped, transparent bag.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 17, No. 97, January, 1876|Various

British Dictionary definitions for ascidian

ascidian

/ (əˈsɪdɪən) /

noun

any minute marine invertebrate animal of the class Ascidiacea, such as the sea squirt, the adults of which are degenerate and sedentary: subphylum Tunicata (tunicates)

ascidian tadpole the free-swimming larva of an ascidian, having a tadpole-like tail containing the notochord and nerve cord

adjective

of, relating to, or belonging to the Ascidiacea

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