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Glite Dictionary
🦠 Related to parasites 🦠 A tiny parasite
coccidian

coccidian

9.9
Relating to tiny parasites that infect animal intestines
  • adjective
  • /kɒkˈɪdiən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : coccidiano
  • A coccidian infection can lead to serious health issues in livestock if not treated promptly.

Examples

  • Veterinarians often test for coccidian parasites in animals that show symptoms of gastrointestinal distress.

  • Isospora is a coccidian protozoan predominantly found in tropical and subtropical climates, especially in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia (4).

    Academic text (2007)

  • Research indicates that coccidian organisms play a significant role in the health of various animal species.

Surface Forms

coccidian positive

Morphology

coccidian = coccidia (semi-transparent) = coccidi + ian

Formed by the productive adjectival/noun suffix '-ian' on the technical base 'coccidia' (or singular 'coccidium'); the formation is regular but the base is specialist vocabulary, so it is not fully transparent to average learners.

Etymology

Coccidian comes from the Greek word kokkos meaning 'berry' because these tiny parasites make round, berry-like bodies. So coccidian describes things related to those parasites or the infections they cause.