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Glite Dictionary
🦠 Protozoa with cilia 🦠 Group of protozoa
Ciliata

Ciliata

9.9
A group of single-celled animals with tiny hairs at some stage that they use to move and eat
  • noun
  • /sɪˈlaɪətə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Ciliata

Examples

  • PHOTO (COLOR): At Colorado's Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, bluebells (Mertensia ciliata) do not flower until the snow melts.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The class of protozoa known as Ciliata is distinguished by having hairlike appendages called cilia.

  • Many organisms in the class Ciliata use their cilia for movement and feeding in aquatic environments.

  • Research into Ciliata has revealed their importance in maintaining healthy ecosystems as they help break down organic matter.

Synonyms

ciliate
vsCiliata
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A single-celled organism with tiny hairs used to move and feed

is the class term covering many such organisms rather than one individual
Ciliophora
vsCiliata
  • Specialized
9.9

A single-celled creature with many tiny hairlike cilia on its surface used to move and feed

is the same class but uses an alternative scientific name
ciliated protozoan
vsCiliata
  • Specialized
7.9

A single cell living thing that uses tiny hairs to move and eat

is the class name that groups those protozoa rather than a single organism
ciliophoran
vsCiliata
  • Specialized
9.9

A single-celled animal with many tiny hairs called cilia that it uses to move and eat

is a class label rather than the term for an individual organism

Compounds

Calandrinia ciliata
  • Specialized
9.9

A low plant with thick leaves that forms a green carpet and has small bright pink flowers

Surface Forms

Ciliata singular
Ciliatas plural

Morphology

Ciliata = cilium (opaque) = cilium + ata

Although the word is historically built on cilium plus a Latinized taxonomic ending, the class-name meaning is specialized and not directly predictable for an average learner.

Etymology

Ciliata comes from the Latin cilium, meaning 'eyelash' or 'small hair'. These tiny single-celled animals are named for the many hair-like cilia that cover them and help them move and eat, so the name tells you how they live.