metazoan

American  

[met-uh-zoh-uhn] / ˌmɛt əˈzoʊ ən /

noun

plural

metazoans

1. Zoology. any animal of the group Metazoa.

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adjective

1. Zoology. of, relating to, or characteristic of an animal or animals of the group Metazoa.

metazoan British  

/ ˌmɛtəˈzəʊən /

noun

1. any multicellular animal of the group Metazoa : includes all animals except sponges

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Metazoa

metazoan Scientific  

/ mĕt′ə-zō′ən /

1. Any of the animals belonging to the subkingdom Metazoa, having a body made up of differentiated cells arranged in tissues and organs. All multicellular animals besides sponges are metazoans.

2. A multicellular animal. No longer in scientific use.

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Other Word Forms

• non-metazoan noun
• premetazoan noun

Etymology

Origin of metazoan

C19: from New Latin Metazoa; see _meta- , _-zoa

Example Sentences

Bars indicate the presence or relative expansions of selected gene families in all basal metazoan lineages from the inferred urmetazoan ancestor.

From Nature • May 20, 2014

Non-metazoans lack pannexin orthologues, suggesting that these are metazoan innovations with profound expansion of this family in ctenophores.

From Nature • May 20, 2014

Bars indicate the presence or relative expansions of selected gene families in all basal metazoan lineages from the inferred urmetazoan ancestor.

From Nature • May 20, 2014

This overlap of expressional responses by gene families across phyla suggests a conserved metazoan stress response involving enhanced metabolism and the suppression of genes involved in reproduction.

From Nature • Mar. 15, 2014

"The existence of immortal metazoan organisms is conceivable," but their capacity for existence is influenced by conditions of the external world; this renders necessary the process of adaptation.

From The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays by Joly, John