Cnidians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Aquatic animals belonging to the phylum that includes jellyfish, sea anemones and corals, all bearing stinging cells
2. Stinging marine creatures in the group that contains jellyfish, hydras and corals, typically with radial body symmetry
3. Members of the cnidarian phylum, a group of mostly marine animals equipped with specialized nematocysts for capturing prey

Etymology: "Cnidians" is a plural form of "cnidarian," the name for the group of stinging sea animals that includes jellyfish, corals, and sea anemones. The name comes from Greek "knidē," meaning nettle, a reference to the stinging cells, called cnidocytes, that these animals use to catch prey. It is a modern scientific coinage built from that Greek root, not a term ancient naturalists used. The spelling can mislead. "Cnidian," with a capital C, is also the name for a person from Cnidus, an ancient Greek city on the coast of Asia Minor, so the plural of that word looks identical. The people of Cnidus have nothing to do with jellyfish. The sea-animal sense is the modern one, and "cnidarians" is the more common plural today.