unicellular

[yoo-nuh-sel-yuh-ler]

adjective

having or consisting of a single cell.

Origin of unicellular

First recorded in 1855–60; uni- + cellular

Related formsu·ni·cel·lu·lar·i·ty, noun

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

Examples from the Web for unicellular

Historical Examples of unicellular

Protoplasmic movements, you know, and unicellular plants and animals.
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
Infusoria and other unicellular animals multiply by division.
The Beauties of Nature
Sir John Lubbock
The first grade includes only the Protozoa, or unicellular animals.
Stories of the Universe: Animal Life
B. Lindsay
He demonstrated that the Gregarin are unicellular creatures.
The Last Link
Ernst Haeckel
The phodella are peculiar symbiontes, or unicellular alg, comparable to the xanthell or zooxanthell of the other Radiolaria.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, Second Part: Subclass Osculosa; Index
Ernst Haeckel

British Dictionary definitions for unicellular

unicellular

adjective

(of organisms, such as protozoans and certain algae) consisting of a single cell

Derived Formsunicellularity, noun

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

Word Origin and History for unicellular

adj.

1858; see uni- + cellular.

unicellular in Medicine