Sporozoan.
/ˌspɒrə(ʊ)ˈzəʊə/, /ˌspɔːrə(ʊ)ˈzəʊə/, U.S. /ˌspɔrəˈzoʊə/ Biology.
With plural agreement: a phylum of mainly parasitic spore-forming protists that have a complex life cycle with sexual and asexual generations, including gregarines and many disease-causing forms (coccidians, babesia, toxoplasma, and plasmodia); (also in form sporozoa) organisms of this phylum (collectively or individually).Formerly regarded as a class of protozoans, the sporozoans are considered to be polyphyletic and the majority of them are now placed in the group Apicomplexa (see Apicomplexa n.).
ΚΠ
1882 Amer. Naturalist 16 324 Certain Gregarinidæ (Sporozoa) are now known to be cell-parasites during a portion of their lives.
1906 Cambr. Nat. Hist. I. 30 In many Sarcodina and some Sporozoa the nucleus gives off small fragments into the cytoplasm or is resolved into them.
1946 Jrnl. Parasitol. 32 465 Purple staining granules are commonly found..in the cytoplasm of certain Sporozoa, Rhizopoda, Ciliophora and Mastigophora.
1977 T. I. Storer et al. Elements Zool. (ed. 4) xv. 261/1 The Sporozoa..are practically all parasites.
1998 L. Margulis & K. V. Schwartz Five Kingdoms (ed. 3) ii. 140/1 Apicomplexans have been traditionally grouped together as ‘sporozoa’ because of their common habitat—animal tissue.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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