paramecium

[ par-uh-mee-shee-uh m, -shuh m, -see-uh m ]

/ ˌpær əˈmi ʃi əm, -ʃəm, -si əm /

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noun, plural par·a·me·ci·a [par-uh-mee-shee-uh, -shuh, -see-uh] /ˌpær əˈmi ʃi ə, -ʃə, -si ə/.

any ciliated freshwater protozoan of the genus Paramecium, having an oval body and a long, deep oral groove.

Words related to paramecium

cell, flagellate, organism, plasmodium, ameba, euglena, ciliate, amoeba, sporozoan, stentor

Words nearby paramecium

paramagnetism, paramaribo, paramastitis, paramatman, paramatta, paramecium, paramedic, paramedical, paramenia, parament, paramesonephric duct

Origin of paramecium

1745–55; < New Latin < Greek paramḗk(ēs) oblong, oval + New Latin -ium noun suffix; see -ium

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

Examples from the Web for paramecium

Swimming vigorously in the water, they devote themselves to chasing the Paramecium.
The Ocean World:|Louis Figuier
The Paramecium are propagated by spontaneous division, as already described.
The Ocean World:|Louis Figuier
The neurone, however, is a little unicellular animal, like the amoeba or the paramecium.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology|Robert E. Park
Jennings found a number of races of paramecium of different sizes living under natural conditions.
A Critique of the Theory of Evolution|Thomas Hunt Morgan

British Dictionary definitions for paramecium

paramecium

/ (ˌpærəˈmiːsɪəm) /

noun plural -cia (-sɪə)

any freshwater protozoan of the genus Paramecium, having an oval body covered with cilia and a ventral ciliated groove for feeding: phylum Ciliophora (ciliates)

Word Origin for paramecium

C18: New Latin, from Greek paramēkēs elongated, from para- 1 + mēkos length

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

Medicine definitions for paramecium

Paramecium

[ păr′ə-mē′shē-əm, -sē-əm ]

n.

A genus of freshwater ciliate protozoans, characteristically slipper-shaped and covered with cilia, and commonly used for genetic research and other studies.

Science definitions for paramecium

paramecium

[ păr′ə-mē′sē-əm ]

Plural paramecia parameciums

Any of various freshwater protozoans of the genus Paramecium that are usually oval in shape and that move by means of cilia. Although they consist of a single cell, paramecia are large enough to be visible to the naked eye. Like other ciliates, paramecia contain two nuclei, a macronucleus and a micronucleus. On the cellular surface is a groove that opens into a gullet, into which food particles are absorbed.