turbellarian

[ tur-buh-lair-ee-uhn ]

adjective

1. belonging to the Turbellaria, a class of platyhelminths or flatworms, mostly aquatic and having cilia on the body surface.

noun

1. a turbellarian platyhelminth.

turbellarian

/ ˌtɜːbɪˈlɛərɪən /

noun

1. any typically aquatic free-living flatworm of the class Turbellaria , having a ciliated epidermis and a simple life cycle: includes the planarians

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the class Turbellaria

Word History and Origins

Origin of turbellarian¹

1875–80; < New Latin Turbellari ( a ) ( Latin turbell ( ae ) a stir, row (plural diminutive of turba turmoil) + -āria, neuter plural of -ārius -ary ) + -an

Word History and Origins

Origin of turbellarian¹

C19: from New Latin Turbellāria , from Latin turbellae (pl) bustle, from turba brawl, referring to the swirling motion created in the water

Example Sentences

Rhabdite, rab′dīt, n. a smooth, rod-like structure found in the cells of the integument of most turbellarian worms: one of the hard parts composing the ovipositor of some insects.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

Rhabdocœla, rab-dō-sē′la, n. a prime division of turbellarian worms.—adjs.

From Project Gutenberg

Planarian, plā-nā′ri-an, adj. and n. a term practically coextensive with Turbellarian, applicable to the members of the lowest class of worm-like animals, living in fresh and salt water, and sometimes in damp earth.—adjs.

From Project Gutenberg

According to his view, a simple early Turbellarian larva, such as that of Stylochus, most nearly represents for us to-day that ancestor from which Ctenophora and Turbellaria are alike derived.

From Project Gutenberg

The male is about a hundred times smaller than the female, in the respiratory chamber of which it lives as a kind of parasite, and appears, so far as outward shape goes, more like a turbellarian than a gephyrean.

From Project Gutenberg