Foraminifera
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of foraminifer (“any of a large group of aquatic amoeboid protists of the subphylum Foraminifera, characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm that among other things is used for catching food, often with a calcareous shell with many holes through which pseudopodia protrude”).
"This elegant Foraminifera has long been one of the best known of recent species; in its young state it is one of the most abundant organisms in the Cuban sand: in this immature form it appears a Foraminifera of the ordinary spiral type; […]"
- 2 plural of foraminiferon form-of, plural
- 3 plural of foraminiferum form-of, plural
Example
More examples"The by-products of living things also play an important part in creating sandy beaches. Bermuda's preponderance of pleasantly pink beaches results from the perpetual decay of single-celled, shelled organisms called foraminifera."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from New Latin Foraminifera (subphylum name), from French foraminifère (“foraminifer, foraminifera”), from French Foraminifères, coined by the French naturalist Alcide d’Orbigny (1802–1857) in an 1826 article. Foraminifère is derived from Latin forāmina (“apertures, holes”) + -fer (“-bearing”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.