polyzoary Zool.
(pɒlɪˈzəʊərɪ)
Also in Lat. form polyzoarium (ˌpɒlɪzəʊˈɛərɪəm), pl. -ia.
[ad. mod.L. polyzōārium, f. Polyzoa + -arium, -ary1.]
The polypary or polypidom of a colony of Polyzoa, or the colony as a whole.
| 1856 Gosse Man. Marine Zool. II. 5 The entire assemblage of cells springing from one root-thread, or originating from a single cell, is called the polyzoary. 1872 Darwin Orig. Spec. vii. (ed. 6) 192 [Avicularia] Their movement caused the whole polyzoary to tremble. 1874 Wood Nat. Hist. 663 The general shape of the whole group, or ‘polyzoary’,..is very shrub-like, standing bodily erect, and giving out branches by two and two. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. viii. 459 The polyzoarium of Cristatella is free and creeps about as a whole. |
Hence polyzoarial (-zəʊˈɛərɪəl) a., pertaining or relating to a polyzoary.
| 1885 E. R. Lankester in Encycl. Brit. XIX. 431/2 ‘Ectocyst’ and ‘endocyst’..form part of a special ‘polyzoarial’ nomenclature, but do not appear to be any longer needful. |