Animalcule

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ænɪˈmælkjuːl/

Definitions

1. A microscopic organism, especially one observed under early microscopes, such as a protozoan or rotifer
2. A tiny living creature invisible to the naked eye that was commonly observed through primitive microscopes
3. A microscopic organism too small to be seen without magnification, typically a single-celled or simple multicellular being

Etymology: Before anyone could see the creatures, the name for them was a diminutive. "Animalculum" in Late Latin meant a "lowly or small animal," and English took it up as "animalcule," adding the English diminutive suffix "-cule" to the Latin base. The result is a word that, from the start, meant "little animal" and was built for things too small to see with the naked eye. The Latin pieces run back to "anima," meaning breath, life, or soul, which gave "animal" its sense of a living creature. Latin then attached the diminutive "-culum" to that base to produce "animalculum." English later borrowed the whole thing with its smallness intact. The word was used most heavily for the organisms revealed by early microscopes, which is why it now sounds like a relic. Sperm cells were once called animalcules too, before the term faded from use. The name records a moment when people had just discovered a hidden world of tiny living things and were still finding words for it.

Synonyms: microorganism, microbe, bacterium, protozoan, virus