echinococcus

noun

echi·​no·​coc·​cus i-ˌkī-nə-ˈkä-kəs 

plural echinococci i-ˌkī-nə-ˈkäk-ˌ(s)ī 

-ˈkäk-(ˌ)(s)ē

: any of a genus (Echinococcus) of tapeworms that alternate a minute adult living as a commensal in the intestine of carnivores with a hydatid larva invading tissues especially of the liver of cattle, sheep, swine, and humans and acting as a dangerous pathogen

Examples of echinococcus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The increasing prevalence of echinococcus in Kyrgyzstan serves as a poignant example of how this parasite has embedded itself in the wake of the Soviet collapse. —Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 29 Apr. 2014

But about half of patients that receive treatment for an echinococcus illness do so within a few years of being infected. —Korin Miller, SELF, 2 Aug. 2018

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, genus name, from echino- echino- + -coccus -coccus

Note: The genus name was introduced by the Swedish-born German naturalist Karl Asmund Rudolphi (1771-1832) in "Beobachtungen über die Eingeweidewürmer," Archiv für Zoologie und Zootomie, herausgegeben von C.R.W. Wiedemann, Zweiten Bandes erstes Stück (1801), pp. 52-53. The name refers to the "wreath of hooks" (Hakenkranz) that terminates the worm's scolex.

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

echinococcus

noun

echi·​no·​coc·​cus -nə-ˈkäk-əs 

1

capitalized : a genus of tapeworms of the family Taeniidae (such as Echinococcus granulosus and E. multilocularis) that alternate a minute adult living as a harmless commensal in the intestine of dogs and other carnivores with a hydatid larva invading tissues especially of the liver of mammals (such as cattle, sheep, swine, and humans), and acting as a serious often fatal pathogen

2

plural echinococci -ˈkäk-ˌ(s)ī  -ˈkäk-(ˌ)(s)ē  : any tapeworm of the genus Echinococcus

also : hydatid sense 1