animalcule.
A sperm cell or spermatozoon; also, the embryo that was formerly thought to be contained inside a spermatozoon in a fully developed state.
Meaning & usage
A sperm cell or spermatozoon; also, the embryo that was formerly thought to be contained inside a spermatozoon in a fully developed state.
A microscopic aquatic animal, including protozoa and rotifers.
A small animal.
Where this word comes from
Learned borrowing from Late Latin animalculum (“lowly or small animal”) + English -cule (diminutive suffix). Animalculum is derived from Latin animal (“animal; living creature”) + -culum (diminutive suffix); and animal from animāle, the nominative neuter singular of animālis (“animate, living; relating to living creatures”), from anima (“breath; life; soul, spirit”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). The English word is analysable as animal + -cule.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.