zoonite

See also: zoönite

English

Alternative forms

• zoönite

Etymology

zoon +‎ -ite

Noun

zoonite (plural zoonites)

1. (zoology, archaic) One of the segments of the body of an articulated animal, sometimes regarded as a distinct organism.
   • 1843, The Medical Times, volume 7, page 183:

     An organite is always dependent, its life is always subordinate to that of the individual of which it forms a part; a zoonite is always independent, it has a life peculiar to itself.

   • 1891, Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, page 195:

     When there is budding the somite which proliferates is the pre-anal in Myrianida and certain species of Autolytus; the anal segment is, from the first, too differentiated to take part in the formation of new zoonites.

Synonyms

• zoonule, zoönule