‖ monera, n. pl.
(mɒˈnɪərə)
[mod.L., badly f. Gr. µονήρης single.]
Haeckel's name for a group of protozoa composed of organisms of the simplest form. Also sing. moˈneron, one of the monera.
| 1869 tr. Haeckel in Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. IX. 28, I have called those forms of life standing at the lowest grade of organization Monera. Ibid. 35 A Protozoan organism of the Monera group. 1876 tr. Haeckel's Hist. Creat. I. 184 The first complete observations on the natural history of a Moneron..were made by me..in 1864. 1894 E. Clodd in Academy 7 July 14/1 The theory of the continuity of life from moneron to man. |
Hence moˈneral, moˈneric adjs. = moneran a. moˈneran a., of or belonging to the monera; n. a moneron.
| 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. ii. 95 An endoplastic repetition of the moneran Protomonas. 1881 Carpenter Microsc. & Rev. (ed. 6) §394 Another very interesting ‘moneric’ type is the Vampyrella. 1891 Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. XXXII. 611 Haeckel was mistaken in assuming their disappearance in a ‘moneran stage’. |