amoeba
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GC: n

S: LISC – https://goo.gl/mA79W3 (last access: 11 November 2016); SEPI – https://goo.gl/IlHYYz (last access: 11 November 2016).

N: 1. 1855, from Modern Latin Amoeba, genus name (1841), from Greek amoibe “change,” related to ameibein “to change, exchange,” from PIE *e-meigw-, extended form of root *mei- “to change, go, move”. So called for its constantly changing shape. Related: Amoebaean; amoebic.

2. Amoeba, also spelled ameba, plural amoebas or amoebae, any of the microscopic unicellular protozoans of the rhizopodan order Amoebida. The well-known type species, Amoeba proteus, is found on decaying bottom vegetation of freshwater streams and ponds. There are numerous parasitic amoebas. Of six species found in the human alimentary tract, Entamoeba histolytica causes amebic dysentery. Two related free-living genera of increasing biomedical importance are Acanthamoeba and Naegleria, strains of which have been recognized as disease-causing parasites in several vertebrates, including humans.

3. Any (eukaryotic) cell or organism which is able to alter its cell shape drastically, usually by the extrusion of one or more pseudopodia.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://goo.gl/lcrQ4s (last access: 17 November 2016). 2. EncBrit – https://goo.gl/A6fF9t (last access: 17 November 2016). 3. TERMIUM PLUS – http://goo.gl/QVGvnf (last access: 17 November 2016).

GV: ameba

S: EncBrit – https://goo.gl/A6fF9t (last access: 17 November 2016); TERMIUM PLUS – http://goo.gl/QVGvnf (last access: 21 November 2016).

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CR: amebiasis, proteus.