cormidium

noun

cor·​mid·​i·​um

kȯrˈmidēəm

plural cormidia

-ēə

: the entire body or colony of a compound animal

sometimes : one of the clusters of zooids usually consisting of a helmet-shaped bract, a gastrozooid, and one or more gonophores often functioning as swimming bells and arising from the main stem of a calycophoran

—used chiefly of the Siphonophora

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Greek kormos tree trunk + New Latin -idium

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