Definitions For Zoon

Noun

ZOON (plural zoa or zoons) (biology) An animal which is the sole product of a single egg. (biology) Any one of the perfectly developed individuals of a compound animal.

Quotations

1864, {{w, Herbert Spencer}}, {{w, Principles of Biology}}, , § 73 (1868 reprint; D. Appleton & Co.) : [… A] zoological individual is constituted either by any such single animal as a mammal or bird, which may properly claim the title of a zoon, or by any such group of animals as the numerous Medusæ that have been developed from the same egg, which are to be severally distinguished as zooids.

Antonyms

an animal which is the sole product of a single egg zooid

References

Alternative forms

zoön

Etymology

First adopted by {{w, Herbert Spencer}} in {{w, Principles of Biology}} (see 1864 quotation): from {{etyl, NL., en}} zōon, from (Ancient Greek) ζῷον, , animal.“” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]