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metazoan

American  
[met-uh-zoh-uhn] / ˌmɛt əˈzoʊ ən /

noun

plural

metazoans

  1. Zoology. any animal of the group Metazoa.

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

"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

adjective

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

"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
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.

Other Word Forms

  • non-metazoan noun
  • premetazoan noun

Etymology

Origin of metazoan

C19: from New Latin Metazoa; see meta- , -zoa

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.