flagellate
/ˈflæ.d͡ʒəˌleɪt/ verb, adjective, noun
Forms flagellates flagellating flagellated
- verb (transitive) To whip or scourge.
- verb (transitive, idiomatic) To harshly chide or chastise, to reprimand.
- verb (transitive) Of a spermatozoon, to move its tail back and forth.
- adjective Resembling a whip.
- adjective (biology) Having flagella.
- noun (biology) Any organism that has flagella.
Synonyms
flagellate protozoan flagellated protozoan mastigophoran mastigophore scourge flagellated whiplike lash-like
Etymology
First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin flagellātus perfect passive participle of flagellō (“to whip, flog”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
First attested in 1867; from flagellum + -ate (adjective-forming suffix) as well as Latin flagellum + -ate. The noun was substantivized from the adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To whip; to scourge; to flog.
- adjective Flagelliform.
- adjective Of or pertaining to the Flagellata.
Etymology [L. flagellatus, p.p. of flagellare to scoure, fr. flagellum whip, dim. of flagrum whip, scoure; cf. fligere to strike. Cf. Flall.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “flagellate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details