Paramecium

1 9.4

A tiny living thing with many tiny hairs that swims in pond water

noun
/ˌpærəˈmiːsiəm/

Specialized

: Paramecium

In science class, we observed how a paramecium feeds by sweeping food particles into its oral groove.
cells such as Paramecium

Examples

I'll tell you what a paramecium is.

Hook (1991)
Even the paramecium has DNA, which code defines it as a paramecium.

Blog text (26)
How do cells such as Paramecium become asymmetric?

Academic text (2003)
The best-known acquired inheritance systems are drawn primarily from studies of the major genetic organisms: mouse, Drosophila, E. coli, yeast, and Paramecium.

Academic text (1993)
A paramecium is a microscopic organism that lives in freshwater environments.
The paramecium uses tiny hair-like structures called cilia to move around in the water.

Surface Forms

Paramecium singular

Paramecia plural

Etymology

Paramecium gets its name from Greek parts, and a helpful way to remember it is the prefix para-, which means 'beside' and is the same para- you see in parallel. Imagine tiny cells swimming 'beside' each other in a drop of pond water, and that picture helps you remember that a Paramecium is a small, single-celled pond creature.