‖ Ascidium
(əˈsɪdɪəm)
Pl. -a.
[mod.L., ad. Gr. ἀσκίδιον, dim. of ἀσκός leather bag, wine-skin.]
1. Zool. (Also Ascidia, pl. -æ.) A genus of tunicate molluscs, having the enveloping tunic elastic and leathery: see ascidian.
| 1766 Pennant Zool. IV. 48 (Jod.) Ascidia, taken off Scarborough. 1856 Gosse Marine Zool. II. 30 The Ascidiæ usually adhere to stones and old shells. 1878 Bell Gegenbauer's Comp. Anat. 391 In many Ascidia a new individual buds from the body of the adult animal. |
2. Bot. A pitcher-shaped leafy appendage.
| 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 81 The presence of Ascidia, or pitchers among its leaves, resembling those of Nepenthes. |
Hence aˈscidiate a. (Craig 1847), aˈscidiform a. (Webster 1864), shaped like an ascidium.