zooid









zooid


noun

  1. any organic body or cell capable of spontaneous movement and of an existence more or less apart from or independent of the parent organism.
  2. any animal organism or individual capable of separate existence, and produced by fission, gemmation, or some method other than direct sexual reproduction.
  3. any one of the recognizably distinct individuals or elements of a compound or colonial animallike organism, whether or not detached or detachable.

adjective

  1. Also zo·oi·dal. pertaining to, resembling, or of the nature of an animal.

noun

  1. any independent animal body, such as an individual of a coelenterate colony
  2. a motile cell or body, such as a gamete, produced by an organism

n.

  1. An organic cell or organized body that has independent movement within a living organism, especially a motile gamete such as a spermatozoon.
  2. An independent animallike organism produced asexually, as by budding or fission.
  3. One of the distinct individuals forming a colonial animal such as a coral.
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