Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- any colonial, freshwater green algae of the genus Volvox, forming a hollow, greenish sphere of flagellated cells.
noun
- any freshwater flagellate protozoan of the genus Volvox, occurring in colonies in the form of hollow multicellular spheres
1798, from Latin volvere “to roll,” from PIE root *wel- “to turn, revolve,” with derivatives referring to curved, enclosing objects (cf. Sanskrit valate “turns round,” ulvam “womb, vulva;” Lithuanian valtis “twine, net,” apvalus “round;” Old Church Slavonic valiti “roll, welter,” vluna “wave;” Greek eluo “wind, wrap,” helix “spiral object,” eilein “to turn, squeeze;” Gothic walwjan “to roll;” Old English wealwian “roll,” weoloc “whelk, spiral-shelled mollusk;” Old High German walzan “to roll, waltz;” Old Irish fulumain “rolling;” Welsh olwyn “wheel”).