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Definition of protozoa - 12 dictionary results
Microbiology Testing Lab
Fungi, Bacteria, Mycotoxins, Legionella, Salmonella, etc.
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Pro⋅to⋅zo⋅a

  [proh-tuh-zoh-uh]
Use protozoa in a Sentence
–noun
a major grouping or superphylum of the kingdom Protista, comprising the protozoans.
Origin:
1825–35; < NL; see proto-, -zoa
Microbiology Testing Lab
Fungi, Bacteria, Mycotoxins, Legionella, Salmonella, etc.
www.EMSL.com

pro⋅to⋅zo⋅an

  [proh-tuh-zoh-uhn] noun, plural -zo⋅ans, (especially collectively) -zo⋅a  [-zoh-uh] , adjective Biology
–noun
1. any of a diverse group of eukaryotes, of the kingdom Protista, that are primarily unicellular, existing singly or aggregating into colonies, are usually nonphotosynthetic, and are often classified further into phyla according to their capacity for and means of motility, as by pseudopods, flagella, or cilia.
–adjective
2. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a protozoan.
Origin:
1860–65; Protozo(a) + -an

pro⋅to⋅zo⋅on

  [proh-tuh-zoh-on, -uhn]
–noun, plural -zo⋅a  [-zoh-uh] .
protozoan.
Origin:
sing. of Protozoa
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To protozoa
pro·to·zo·an   (prō'tə-zō'ən)   
n.   pl. pro·to·zo·ans or pro·to·zo·a (-zō'ə) also pro·to·zo·ons
Any of a large group of single-celled, usually microscopic, eukaryotic organisms, such as amoebas, ciliates, flagellates, and sporozoans.

[From New Latin Protozōa, former subkingdom name : proto- + -zōa, pl. of -zōon, -zoon.]
pro'to·zo'an, pro'to·zo'al, pro'to·zo'ic adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

protozoa [(proh-tuh-zoh-uh)]

Single-celled animals, such as amoebas, that are the most primitive form of animal life. In modern biology, they are classified in the kingdom of Protoctista rather than in the animal kingdom. (See Linnean classification.)

Note: Some protozoa are parasites and may be pathogenic, causing diseases such as malaria and dysentery.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

protozoa 
1834, from Mod.L., coined 1818 by Ger. zoologist Georg August Goldfuss (1782-1848) from Gk. protos "first" + zoia, pl. of zoion "animal" (see zoo).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: protozoa
plural of PROTOZOON

Main Entry: Pro·to·zoa
Pronunciation: "prOt-&-'zO-&
Function: noun plural
: a phylum or subkingdom of chiefly motile protists (asamebas, trypanosomes, sporozoans, and paramecia) that consist of a protoplasmic body either naked or enclosed in an outer covering, that have holophytic, saprophytic, or holozoic modes of nourishment,that reproduce asexually by nuclear division usually with a more or less modified mitosis associated with cytoplasmic binary fission or with multiple fission or budding or often sexually by variousmeans, that have the life cycle simple (as in an ameba) or extremely complex (as in many sporozoans), that are represented in almost every kind of habitat, and that include pathogenic parasites ofhumans and domestic animals —compare METAZOA 1

Main Entry: 2protozoan
Function: adjective
: of or relating to the phylum or subkingdom Protozoa

Main Entry: pro·to·zo·on
Pronunciation: "prOt-&-'zO-"än
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural pro·to·zoa
: PROTOZOAN
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

protozoa pro·to·zo·a (prō'tə-zō'ə)
n.
Plural of protozoan.

protozoan pro·to·zo·an (prō'tə-zō'ən) or pro·to·zo·on (-ŏn')
n. pl. pro·to·zo·a (-zō'ə) or pro·to·zo·ans or pro·to·zo·a or pro·to·zo·ons
Any of a group of single-celled, usually microscopic, eukaryotic organisms, such as amoebas, ciliates, flagellates, and sporozoans.

pro'to·zo'an or pro'to·zo'al or pro'to·zo'ic adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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