gregarine

[ greg-uh-rahyn, -er-in ]

/ ˈgrɛg əˌraɪn, -ər ɪn /

Save This Word!

noun

a type of sporozoan parasite that inhabits the digestive and other cavities of various invertebrates and produces cysts filled with spores.

adjective

having the characteristics of or pertaining to a gregarine or gregarines.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of gregarine

1865–70; <New Latin Gregarina name of type, equivalent to Latin gregār(ius) (see gregarious) + -īna-ine¹

Words nearby gregarine

greeting, greeting card, grefa, Greg, gregale, gregarine, gregarious, Gregg, grego, Gregorian, Gregorian calendar

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gregarine in a sentence

These exceedingly small germ-cells afterwards develop into the very different, adult gregarine-cells.
The Biological Problem of To-day|Oscar Hertwig
For at last they become an Acinetan or a Gregarine, exactly like the parent-cell from which they arose as embryos.
The Biological Problem of To-day|Oscar Hertwig
Gromphadorhina portentosa Protozoan: Undetermined gregarine, p. 184.
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches|Louis M. Roth
A gregarine, Diplocystis, in the haemocoele of the roach, Blaberus craniifer Burm.
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches|Louis M. Roth

British Dictionary definitions for gregarine

gregarine

/ (ˈɡrɛɡəˌriːn, -rɪn) /

noun

any parasitic protozoan of the order Gregarinida, typically occurring in the digestive tract and body cavity of other invertebrates: phylum Apicomplexa (sporozoans)

adjective Also: gregarinian (ˌɡrɛɡəˈrɪnɪən)

of, relating to, or belonging to the Gregarinida

Word Origin for gregarine

C19: from New Latin Gregarīna genus name, from Latin gregārius; see gregarious

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