Skip to main content
cystoid

cystoid

1 9.9
A fossil sea animal with a hard body covered by plates and a round or cone shape
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪstɔɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cistoide
  • The museum's exhibit featured a cystoid, providing insights into the evolution of echinoderms.

Examples

  • I was surprised to see... that he has some minimal cystoid macula edema on that left eye... on the basis of that capillary incompetence from that distortion.

  • The paleontologist discovered a cystoid fossil that revealed details about ancient marine ecosystems.

  • During the field trip, we examined a cystoid specimen that showed the unique structure of its plated body.

Compounds

cystoid macular edema
  • Specialized
7.1

Swelling and small pockets of fluid in the center of the back of the eye make central vision worse

Surface Forms

cystoid singular
cystoids plural

Morphology

cystoid = cyst (opaque) = cyst + oid

Although formed from 'cyst' + '-oid', the noun refers to a specific taxonomic fossil (Cystoidea) and its specialized zoological meaning cannot be predicted by a learner knowing 'cyst' and the suffix.

Etymology

Cystoid for the fossil comes from the Greek kystis 'pouch' plus -oid 'like', and it was used for ancient sea animals with a rounded body with plates, like a small pouch, which is why a cystoid fossil is that pouch-shaped sea animal from long ago.