Word of the Day – Animalcule

Animalcule (noun)

an-im-al-kewl

a minute or microscopic animal, nearly or quite invisible to the naked eye.

Animalcule comes from New Latin animalculum, “small animal.” The animal- element comes from Latin animālis, meaning “living” or, literally, “airy, breathy.” The suffix -culum, “small,”

Example sentences

“Pressed between the two glass slides, a variety of animalcules drifted and skittered through the microscope.”