| 释义 |
▪ I. tunicate, a. and n.|ˈtjuːnɪkeɪt|
[ad. L. tunicāt-us, pa. pple. of tunicāre: see next.]
A. adj. Having or enclosed in a tunic or covering; spec. Bot. having or consisting of a series of concentric layers, as a bulb; Entom. sheathed in or issuing from one another, as the joints of antennæ; Zool. having a tunic or mantle; belonging to the Tunicata.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. iii. ix. (1765) 195 A tunicate Bulb, when it consists of many Tunics or Coats. 1825Greenhouse Comp. I. 237 Tunicate bulbs..may be increased by cutting off the upper part of the bulb horizontally. 1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. xlvi. 323 Tunicate Knob (Capitulum tunicatum). When the laminæ, at least on one side, appear to inosculate or to be imbedded in each other. 1847Nat. Encycl. I. 752 It embraces..the conchiferous and tunicate mollusks. 1875Zoologist X. 4313 Sponges, Anemones, and Tunicate Mollusca.
B. n. One of a class of marine animals, formerly regarded as molluscs, but now classified as a degenerate branch of Chordata, comprising the ascidians and allied forms, characterized by a pouch-like body enclosed in a tough leathery integument, with a single or double aperture through which the water enters and leaves the pharynx.
1848Smart Suppl., Tunicates, or Tunicaries, an order of acephalous mollusks having a soft outer covering or mantle; otherwise called Ascidians. 1863E. V. Neale Anal. Th. & Nat. 177 The Tunicates, a class of creatures with a fleshy centre and tough leathery skin. 1877Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. x. 600 All the fixed Tunicates present two, more or less closely approximated, apertures. 1889Geddes & Thomson Evol. Sex v. §2 Among the sea-squirts or tunicates, the reproductive organs are frequently ductless.
▪ II. † ˈtunicate, v. Obs. rare—0.
[f. L. tunicāt-, ppl. stem of tunicāre to clothe with a tunic, cover with a skin, peel, etc., f. tunica tunic.]
1623Cockeram, Tunicate, to cloake or hide a thing. |