Standard Lemma guide

placozoan

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of a group of balloon-shaped marine organisms, of the phylum Placozoa, considered to be the simplest living animals.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology

Examples

  • 2010, Vicki Buchsbaum Pearse, Oliver Voigt, 12: Field Biology of Placozoans (Trichoplax), Rob Desalle, Bernd Schierwater (editors), Key Transitions in Animal Evolution, Taylor & Francis (CRC Press), Science Publishers, page 273, Similarly, at Madang, Papua New Guinea, a small rhabdocoel flatworm crawling on a slide among placozoans was observed contacting a placozoan, recoiling vigorously, and changing its direction of movement only to encounter another placozoan and repeat this behavior several times.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: placozoon

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Placozoa + -an; compare protozoan, protozoon.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: placozoaire — any species of the phylum Placozoa
  • German: Plattentier — any species of the phylum Placozoa
  • German: Placozoen — any species of the phylum Placozoa
  • Polish: płaskowiec — any species of the phylum Placozoa