animalcule
[ an-uh-mal-kyool ]
noun
a minute or microscopic animal, nearly or quite invisible to the naked eye, as an infusorian or rotifer.
Archaic. a tiny animal, as a mouse or fly.
Origin of animalcule
1- Also called an·i·mal·cu·lum [an-uh-mal-kyuh-luhm] /ˌæn əˈmæl kyə ləm/ .
Other words from animalcule
- an·i·mal·cu·lar [an-uh-mal-kyuh-ler], /ˌæn əˈmæl kyə lər/, an·i·mal·cu·line [an-uh-mal-kyuh-lin], /ˌæn əˈmæl kyə lɪn/, an·i·mal·cu·lous, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use animalcule in a sentence
Thus we can also trace up the history of any thought from the state of mere animalcular sensation.
The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn, Volume 2 | Elizabeth Bisland
British Dictionary definitions for animalcule
animalcule
animalculum (ˌænɪˈmælkjʊləm)
/ (ˌænɪˈmælkjuːl) /
nounplural -cules or -cula (-kjʊlə)
a microscopic animal such as an amoeba or rotifer
Origin of animalcule
1C16: from New Latin animalculum a small animal
Derived forms of animalcule
- animalcular, adjective
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
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