trematode

noun

trem·​a·​tode ˈtre-mə-ˌtōd 

: any of a class (Trematoda) of parasitic usually hermaphroditic flatworms including the flukes

trematode adjective

Examples of trematode in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Then there is a parasitic worm (trematode) that targets a particular species of marsh-dwelling brown shrimp (amphipod), turning the shrimp an orange hue and altering the host shrimp's behavior. —Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 31 Oct. 2023

Of those 12, nine did not change in abundance across the decades; two, a trematode and a thorny-headed worm, decreased; and another, a trematode, increased. —Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 28 Apr. 2022

Dicroelium dentriticum, a trematode which lives in the livers of sheep, is no exception. —Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2015

And Hechinger has personally seen soldiers in five other species of trematode, which infect snails from North America, Japan and the Persian Gulf. —Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 14 Sep. 2010

Euhaplorchis californiensis, for one, is a trematode flatworm that, in its larval stage, looks a bit like a sperm, with a big head and long tail. —Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 28 Apr. 2022

Maybe there’s a reason another name for a trematode is a fluke. —Sabrina Imbler, The Atlantic, 16 Feb. 2021

Take the trematode preying on the California killifish, a normally secretive bait fish that hangs out in western salt marshes. —Washington Post, 14 Dec. 2020

The free-swimming trematode parasites that trigger swimmer's itch typically experience a three-host life cycle — starting with a mud snail, then a crab or a fish that will eventually be eaten by a bird. —USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2017

Word History

Etymology

from the stem of New Latin Trematoda, class name, neuter plural derivative from the stem of Greek trēmatṓdēs "having holes," from trēmat-, trêma "aperture, hole" (from trē-, variant stem of tetraínein "to bore through, perforate" + -mat-, -ma, resultative noun suffix) + -ōdēs "like, having the nature of"; trē- going back to Indo-European *treh₁- "bore," apparently variant of *terh₁- with the same sense — more at elodea}, {mat

Note: The taxon Trematoda was introduced by the Sweden-born German physician and naturalist Karl Asmund Rudolphi (1771-1832) in Entozoorum, sive vermium intestinalium historia naturalis, volumen 1 (Amsterdam, 1808), p. 198. Rudolphi characterized Trematoda as a subdivision of Entozoa (intestinal worms): "…3. E[ntozoa] trematoda (τρημα, foramen [aperture, hole], τρηματωδης foraminosus [full of holes]) … ." The name seems to allude to the suckers that trematodes use for attachment, which Rudophi called pori suctorii "sucker pores."

First Known Use

circa 1859, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

trematode

noun

trem·​a·​tode ˈtrem-ə-ˌtōd 

: any of a class of parasitic flatworms including the flukes

trematode adjective

Medical Definition

trematode

noun

trem·​a·​tode ˈtrem-ə-ˌtōd 

: any parasitic flatworm (as a liver fluke) of the class Trematoda

trematode adjective