‖ cœnœcium Zool.
(siːˈniːʃ(ɪ)əm)
[mod.L. f. Gr. κοιν-ός common + οἶκος house.]
The common dermal system of a colony of Polyzoa; a polypary.
| 1872 Nicholson Palæont. 192 The only element of the Polyzoa with which the palæontologist is concerned is the external investment of the colony—the ‘cœnœcium’ or ‘polyzoarium’. 1881 Vines in Nature No. 620. 463 Cœnœcium..Applicable alike to the ‘Frond’, or ‘Polyzoary’, of Fenestella, Polypora, Phyllopora, or Synocladia: or to the associated Zoœcia and their connecting ‘interstitial tubuli’, of Ceriopora, Hyphasmapora, and Archæopora. |
Hence cœˈnœcial a., cœˈnœcic a., of or pertaining to a cœnœcium.
| 1881 Nature XXIV. 95 The close similarity of the Silurian with the later forms, in the habit of cœnœcic growth. |