foraminifer
UK /ˌfɒɹəˈmɪnɪfə/ · US /ˌfɔɹəˈmɪnəfɚ/ noun
Forms foraminifers
- noun Any of a large group of aquatic amoeboid protists of the subphylum Foraminifera, characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm that among other things is used for catching food, often with a calcareous shell with many holes through which pseudopodia protrude.
Synonyms
foram foraminifera foraminiferan foraminiferid foraminiferon foraminiferum
Etymology
Borrowed from French foraminifère (“foraminifer, foraminifera”), from French Foraminifères, coined by the French naturalist Alcide d’Orbigny (1802–1857) in an 1826 article. By surface analysis, Latin forāmen (“apertures, holes”, stem foramin-) + -fer (“bearing”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of the foraminifera.
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “foraminifer”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details