zoea

[ zoh-ee-uh ]

/ zoʊˈi ə /

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noun, plural zo·e·ae

[zoh-ee-ee], /zoʊˈi i/, zo·e·as.Zoology.

any of the free-swimming larva of certain crustaceans, as the crab, having rudimentary legs and a spiny carapace.

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Origin of zoea

1820–30; <New Latin, equivalent to Greek zō(ḗ) life + New Latin -ea-ea

OTHER WORDS FROM zoea

zo·e·al, adjective

Words nearby zoea

zod., zodiac, zodiacal constellation, zodiacal light, Zoe, zoea, zoetrope, Zoffany, Zog I, Zohar, zoic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use zoea in a sentence

Again and again its skin splits, and a rather different zoea appears.
On the Seashore|R. Cadwallader Smith
You ask about the skipping of the Zoea stage in fresh-water decapods: is this an illustration of acceleration?
More Letters of Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin
As an illustration of this metamorphosis, we give figures of the Zoea Taurus in two states, viz., Fig.
The Ocean World:|Louis Figuier
With crowds of its brothers and sisters, the zoea kicks about on the surface of the sea.
On the Seashore|R. Cadwallader Smith

The maggot is the larva of the fly, and the zoea is the larva of the Crab.
On the Seashore|R. Cadwallader Smith

British Dictionary definitions for zoea

zoea

zoaea

/ (zəʊˈiːə) /

noun plural zoeae or zoaeae (zəʊˈiːiː) or zoeas or zoaeas

the free-swimming larva of a crab or related crustacean, which has well-developed abdominal appendages and may bear one or more spines

Word Origin for zoea

C20: New Latin, from Greek zōē life

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