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

Etymology

Origin of zooid

First recorded in 1850–55; zo- + -oid

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

zooid

In colonial corals a bud is always formed from the edge-zone, and this bud develops into a new zooid with its corallum.

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

The zooid then is, as it were, moulded upon the corallum.

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

Mr. Busk, however, does not know of any gradations now existing between a zooid and an avicularium.

From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Darwin, Charles

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

In the order Stelechotokea the colony consists of a stem formed by a greatly-elongated mother zooid, and the daughter zooids are borne as lateral buds on the stem.

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