ciliated protozoan
- noun
- /ˈsɪliˌeɪtɪd ˌproʊtəˈzoʊən/
- Specialized
- The ciliated protozoan moves swiftly through the water using its tiny hairlike cilia.
Examples
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In biology class, we observed a ciliated protozoan under the microscope to see how it swims.
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A living system in which to explore telomere behavior came in the form of the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila.
Academic text (1998) -
Researchers studied the ciliated protozoan to understand its feeding mechanisms.
Synonyms
A very small one-celled freshwater creature with a slipper shape and tiny hairs for movement
A single-celled organism with tiny hairs used to move and feed
A single-celled animal with many tiny hairs called cilia that it uses to move and eat
A single-celled creature with many tiny hairlike cilia on its surface used to move and feed
Single-celled animals with many tiny hairs that live in water and use them to move
A very small water creature seen only with a microscope that moves with tiny hairs
A single-celled animal-like organism with tiny hairs that lives in freshwater
A single-celled organism with four bands of tiny hairs often used in biology research
A very small single-celled creature with a cup-shaped body and a stalk it can pull in
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a protozoan with hairlike cilia' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'ciliated' (having fine hairlike projections) with 'protozoan' (a unicellular organism). This is a straightforward adjective+noun composition common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Ciliated protozoan is a compound name for a 'single-celled animal' that has tiny hairlike parts called cilia. The word ciliated points to the tiny hairs and protozoan points to the 'single-celled animal', so the name helps you remember that this tiny creature uses its hairs to move and eat.