any minute primitive marine chordate animal of the subphylum Tunicata (or Urochordata, Urochorda). The adults have a saclike unsegmented body enclosed in a cellulose-like outer covering (tunic) and only the larval forms have a notochord: includes the sea squirts
See also ascidian
adjective also: tunicated
2.
of, relating to, or belonging to the subphylum Tunicata
3.
(esp of a bulb) having or consisting of concentric layers of tissue
Word origin
C18: from Latin tunicātus clad in a tunic
tunicate in American English
(ˈtunɪkɪt; ˈtjunɪkɪt; ˈtunɪˌkeɪt)
adjective
1. Botany
of or covered with concentric layers or tunics, as an onion
2. Zoology
having a tunic or mantle
: Also ˈtuniˌcated (ˈtunɪˌkeɪtɪd; ˈtjunɪˌkeɪtɪd)
noun
3.
any of a subphylum (Tunicata) of solitary or colonial sea chordates, having a saclike body enclosed by a thick tunic, including the salpsand ascidians
Word origin
L tunicatus, pp. of tunicare, to put on a tunic < tunica, tunic