an·i·mal·cule

(ăn′ə-măl′kyo͞ol) also an·i·mal·cu·lum (-kyə-ləm)

n. pl. an·i·mal·cules also an·i·mal·cu·la (-kyə-lə)

1. A microscopic or minute organism, such as an amoeba or paramecium, usually considered to be an animal.

2. Archaic A tiny animal, such as a mosquito.

[New Latin animalculum, diminutive of Latin animal, animal; see animal.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

animalcule

(ˌænɪˈmælkjuːl) or

animalculum

n, pl -cules or -cula (-kjʊlə)

(Animals) a microscopic animal such as an amoeba or rotifer

[C16: from New Latin animalculum a small animal]

ˌaniˈmalcular adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

an•i•mal•cule

(ˌæn əˈmæl kyul)

n.

a minute or microscopic animal.

[1590–1600; < New Latin animalculum. See animal, -cule¹]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

animalcule - microscopic organism such as an amoeba or paramecium

animalculum

organism, being - a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently

Translations

animalcule

[ˌænɪˈmælkjuːl] N (frm) → animálculo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

animalcule

n → mikroskopisch kleines Tierchen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The red earth, like that of the Pampas, in which these remains were embedded, contains, according to Professor Ehrenberg, eight fresh-water and one salt-water infusorial animalcule; therefore, probably, it was an estuary deposit.

View in context

The microscope cannot find the animalcule which is less perfect for being little.

View in context

As the limestone of the continent consists of infinite masses of the shells of animalcules, so language is made up of images or tropes, which now, in their secondary use, have long ceased to remind us of their poetic origin.

View in context

Hartsoeker did not actually see the miniature, but he affirmed that it was hidden under the "skin" of the animalcule: "We just affirmed that the animalcule joins the egg by the most tender part of its body.

THE EVOLUTION CONCEPT: THE CONCEPT EVOLUTION

We became most tired of their bothering & had felt for sometime rather creepy, for all Indians own a large stock of animalcule. The Chief came in and began begging for all sorts of things & at last said he would not give us the horse without we gave him one of our double barrelled guns & an opera glass which B had.

Coursing the Plains Part One, 1858-1859

Caveolin-1 which is highly conserved in evolution has been found to express in many invertebrate such as nematode pole worm, hookworm, animalcule, sea urchins and vertebrate species.

The Expression and Role of Caveolin-1 in Different Development Periods of Drosophila melanogaster

We must make up our minds to strip him bare in order to scrape off that animalcule that itches him mortally, god, and with god his organs.

Bodies that matter: how does a performer make himself/herself a dilated body?

The generic name he gave to these organisms was "animalcule." Research into microorganisms brought about the invention and evolution of microscopes.

Explaining life: microorganisms in science museums

Rotifers are pseudocoelomate micro-organism with intricate structure and well organized bodies, commonly called as wheel animalcule. Rotifers are found in aquatic and semi aquatic habitats, but are predominantly fresh water inhabitants.

Study of rotifer fauna from Akurdi (Pune) area, (M.S.) India

Two different theories had currency in his time: Hippocractic "pangenesis," the notion that sperma comes from all parts of the body and thereby provides the parts of the body for the offspring; and the "preformationist" or "homunculus" theory, that the sperma contains an animalcule or a little human already formed and waiting simply to grow.(18) Aristotle is trying to contend with these on his way to establishing his own claims about the nature of the generative fluids.

The metaphysical science of Aristotle's 'Generation of Animals' and its feminist critics