zooid

[ zoh-oid ]

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.

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

adjective
  1. Also zo·oi·dal. pertaining to, resembling, or of the nature of an animal.

Origin of zooid

1
First recorded in 1850–55; zo- + -oid

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for zooid

zooid

/ (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

Derived forms of zooid

  • zooidal, 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