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pygidium

American  
[pahy-jid-ee-uhm] / paɪˈdʒɪd i əm /

noun

Zoology.
  • pygidia
    plural
  1. any of various structures or regions at the caudal end of the body in certain invertebrates.


pygidium British  
/ paɪˈdʒɪdɪəm, -ˈɡɪd- /

noun

  1. the terminal segment, division, or other structure in certain annelids, arthropods, and other invertebrates

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of pygidium

1840–50; < New Latin < Greek pȳg ( ḗ ) rump + -idion diminutive suffix


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The trilobite spans 146 meters from cephalon to pygidium, or head to tail, and is carved into the shape of a spiny Ceraurus trilobite instead of the plainer state fossil, Calymene.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 22, 2017

Dorsal gland orifices: in Diaspinae, oval orifices arranged in more or less distinct rows on the surface of the pygidium, through which is discharged the material of which the dorsal scale is formed.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith

The relation in size between the flea and its pygidium.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 470, January 3, 1885 by Various

Abdomen beneath yellow, each segment margined with brown, the pygidium yellow, with two largish oblique black spots.

From Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1. With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea. by John Lort Stokes

Squames: the flattened, fimbriated or spine-like marginal processes of the pygidium in Diaspinae, other than the lobes and true spines: = "plates," of Comst.; or "scaly hairs" of Maskell.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith

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