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The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section a and B · Project Gutenberg — chapter 258 of 897 · ~371 words · public domain

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Helminthes or Vermes, including Rotifera, Chætognatha, Nematoidea, Acanthocephala, Nemertina, Turbellaria, Trematoda, Cestoidea, Mesozea.

Molluscoidea, including Brachiopoda and Bryozoa.

Mollusca, including Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, Pteropoda, Scaphopoda, Lamellibranchiata or Acephala.

Echinodermata, including Holothurioidea, Echinoidea, Asterioidea, Ophiuroidea, and Crinoidea.

Cœlenterata, including Anthozoa or Polyps, Ctenophora, and Hydrozoa or Acalephs.

Spongiozoa or Porifera, including the sponges.

Protozoa, including Infusoria and Rhizopoda.

For definitions, see these names in the Vocabulary.

{ An`i*mal"cu*lar (&?;), An`i*mal"cu*line (&?;), } a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, animalcules. "Animalcular life." Tyndall.

An`i*mal"cule (&?;), n. [As if fr. a L. animalculum, dim. of animal.] 1. A small animal, as a fly, spider, etc. [Obs.] Ray.

2. (Zoöl.) An animal, invisible, or nearly so, to the naked eye. See Infusoria.

Many of the so-called animalcules have been shown to be plants, having locomotive powers something like those of animals. Among these are Volvox, the Desmidiacæ, and the siliceous Diatomaceæ.

Spermatic animalcules. See Spermatozoa.

An`i*mal"cu*lism (&?;), n. [Cf. F. animalculisme.] (Biol.) The theory which seeks to explain certain physiological and pathological phenomena by means of animalcules.

An`i*mal"cu*list (&?;), n. [Cf. F. animalculiste.] 1. One versed in the knowledge of animalcules. Keith.

2. A believer in the theory of animalculism.

||An`i*mal"cu*lum (&?;), n.; pl. Animalcula (&?;). [NL. See Animalcule.] An animalcule.

Animalculæ, as if from a Latin singular animalcula, is a barbarism.

An"i*mal*ish (&?;), a. Like an animal.

An"i*mal*ism (&?;), n. [Cf. F. animalisme.] The state, activity, or enjoyment of animals; mere animal life without intellectual or moral qualities; sensuality.

An`i*mal"i*ty (&?;), n. [Cf. F. animalité.] Animal existence or nature. Locke.

An`i*mal*i*za"tion (&?;), n. [Cf. F. animalisation.] 1. The act of animalizing; the giving of animal life, or endowing with animal properties.

2. Conversion into animal matter by the process of assimilation. Owen.

An"i*mal*ize (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Animalized (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Animalizing.] [Cf. F. animaliser.] 1. To endow with the properties of an animal; to represent in animal form. Warburton.

2. To convert into animal matter by the processes of assimilation.

3. To render animal or sentient; to reduce to the state of a lower animal; to sensualize.

The unconscious irony of the Epicurean poet on the animalizing tendency of his own philosophy. Coleridge.

An"i*mal*ly, adv. Physically. G. Eliot.

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