Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several parasitic tapeworms of the genus Echinococcus, the larvae of which infect mammals and form large, spherical cysts in the liver or lungs, causing serious or fatal disease.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Tænia echinococcus in its larval (scolex) stage, which forms the so-called hydatids occurring in the liver, brain, etc., of man and other animals; the hydatid form of the wandered scolex of Tænia echinococcus, having deutoscolices or daughter-cysts formed by gemmation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A parasite of man and of many domestic and wild animals, forming compound cysts or tumors (called hydatid cysts) in various organs, but especially in the liver and lungs, which often cause death. It is the larval stage of the Tænia echinococcus, a small tapeworm peculiar to the dog. The adult form is not found in man.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun zoology A parasite of humans and of many domestic and wild animals, the larval stage of Taenia echinococcus, that forms compound cysts or tumours (called hydatid cysts) in various organs, but especially in the liver and lungs.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun tapeworms whose larvae are parasitic in humans and domestic animals

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin Echīnococcus, genus name : echino– + –coccus.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ἐχῖνος ("hedgehog") + coccus

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