Cysticercus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A larval stage of a tapeworm, typically found in the tissues of a host organism
2. A stage of development characterized by a fluid-filled cyst that harbors the immature form of a parasitic tapeworm
3. A type of cyst in hosts such as pigs or humans that contains the larvae of certain cestodes, which can lead to infection when ingested

Etymology: The name is a clinical coinage built from two Ancient Greek words that have nothing to do with each other in meaning. "Kystis" meant "bladder" (or a pouch of any kind), and "kerkos" meant "tail." Put together, they describe what the parasite looks like: a small fluid-filled sac with a tail-like structure attached. The creature is the larval stage of a tapeworm, and its body plan was clearly visible to the people who named it. The ancient Greek roots are simple, but the word itself was assembled much later, when scientists needed precise names for parasite stages they were observing under the microscope. Using classical building blocks was the standard practice for naming new discoveries, so the word looks old while being a modern technical term.