Word.ws English Dictionary

acanthocephalan

US/əˌkæn.θəˈsɛf.ə.lən/

acanthocephalan noun: any of parasitic intestinal worms comprising the phylum Acanthocephala.

acanthocephalan: any of parasitic intestinal worms comprising the phylum Acanthocephala
Image: T. Goulding, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

acanthocephalan (plural acanthocephalans)

  1. Any of parasitic intestinal worms comprising the phylum Acanthocephala.
    • That discussion of fish intestines is justified because many acanthocephalans have been described from fish.1970, D. W. T. Crompton, An Ecological Approach to Acanthocephalan Physiology, page 25
    • Clearly acanthocephalans contain large amounts of lipid and possess enzyme systems for lipid metabolism (Filipponi et al., 1994; Weber et al., 1995); however, use of these lipid deposits in energy metabolism is yet to be demonstrated.2006, B. B. Nickol, Phylum Acanthocephala, P. T. K. Woo (editor), Fish Diseases and Disorders, Volume 1: Protozoan and Metazoan Infections, 2nd Edition, page 458
    Synonyms:
    spiny-headed worm, thorny-headed worm

Adjective

acanthocephalan

  1. In a manner similar to Acanthocephala.

acanthocephalan meaning in Tamil

acanthocephalan in Tamil

முட்தலைப் புழு

Synonyms of acanthocephalan

Forms of acanthocephalan

pluralacanthocephalans
alternative formacanthocephalid

Origin of acanthocephalan

From acantho- + Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”) + -an.

Questions about acanthocephalan

What does acanthocephalan mean?
Acanthocephalan means any of parasitic intestinal worms comprising the phylum Acanthocephala.
What is acanthocephalan in Tamil?
Acanthocephalan in Tamil is முட்தலைப் புழு. See Acanthocephalan meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is acanthocephalan?
Acanthocephalan can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce acanthocephalan?
Acanthocephalan is pronounced /əˌkæn.θəˈsɛf.ə.lən/ (US).
What is the plural of acanthocephalan?
The plural of acanthocephalan is acanthocephalans.

Words near acanthocephalan in the dictionary

  1. acanthite
  2. acanthizid
  3. acanthizids
  4. acantho-
  5. acanthocarpous
  6. acanthocephalan
  7. acanthocephalans
  8. acanthocephaliases
  9. acanthocephaliasis
  10. acanthocephalid
  11. acanthocephalids

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: acanthocephalan (page history and authors); acanthocephalan (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “acanthocephalan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acanthocephalan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.