zooid

American  

[zoh-oid] / ˈzoʊ ɔɪd /

noun

1. any organic body or cell capable of spontaneous movement and of an existence more or less apart from or independent of the parent organism.

2. any animal organism or individual capable of separate existence, and produced by fission, gemmation, or some method other than direct sexual reproduction.

3. any one of the recognizably distinct individuals or elements of a compound or colonial animallike organism, whether or not detached or detachable.

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adjective

1. Also zooidal. pertaining to, resembling, or of the nature of an animal.

zooid British  

/ ˈzəʊɔɪd /

noun

1. any independent animal body, such as an individual of a coelenterate colony

2. a motile cell or body, such as a gamete, produced by an organism

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Other Word Forms

• zooidal
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of zooid

First recorded in 1850–55; zo- + -oid

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

zooid

A single zooid of the same. a = nucleus. b = contractile vacuole. c = the characteristic “collar” of naked streaming protoplasm.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4 "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre" by Various

The individuals are round and disk-shaped, with a large zooid in the center of the under side, surrounded by smaller nutritive and reproductive zooids, and by slender dactylozooids near the margin.

From The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary Section P and Q by Project Gutenberg

Alcyonaria.—In this sub-class the zooid has very constant anatomical characters, differing in some important respects from the Actinian zooid, which has been taken as a type.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various

As the buds develop the canal system becomes much extended, and calcareous tissue is deposited between the network of canals, the confluent edge-zones of mother zooid and bud forming a coenosarc.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various

The stem represents a greatly enlarged and elongated mother zooid.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various

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