protozoonn.
/ˌprəʊtəˈzəʊən/, /ˌprəʊtəˈzəʊɒn/, U.S. /ˌproʊdəˈzoʊən/ Biology.
= protozoan n.The plural form is usually supplied by Protozoa n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > protozoa > [noun] > member of
protoplast1851
protozoon1851
malacozooid1863
protozoan1863
protist1873
protozoary1890
1851 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 8) Protozöon, an animal low in the scale;—as a monad.
1858 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) 1027/2 Protozoon, Protozoum,..a Class or Division of the animal kingdom, comprehending those animals which the simplicity of their organization makes to be considered as the first rough beginning of animality.
1869 Spectator 24 July 877 The analogy between the development of the species from the original protozoon and of the individual from the germ is quite Spencer's own.
1930 H. G. Newth Marshall & Hurst's Junior Course Pract. Zool. (ed. 11) i. 1 A protozoon is an animal which consists of a single nucleated protoplasmic mass which carries out the functions of life without sub-division of its mass into cells.
1987 Trans. Amer. Microsc. Soc. 106 357 Some protozoons graze bacteria and small algae.
1992 F. McLynn Hearts of Darkness iii. xi. 250 Only in South Africa was there a strain of cattle-fever not found elsewhere. This was Texan or redwater fever, caused by a protozoon carried by the blue tick.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1851