Meanings
adjectiveanimalculous (not comparable)
- archaicnot comparableRelating to animalcules.
Like the blue on a plumb, are but Inſects you know, / A mere Animalculous Duſt
1772, George Alexander Stevens, “Song LXXIII. The Comet”, in Songs, Comic, and Satyrical, second edition, Oxford: Printed by the Author. Sold by J. Waller, […] G. Robinson, […] and F. Newbery, page 1372 more examples
now an anthelminthic is any thing that will deſtroy worms and animalculous vermin; that is to ſay, it will deſtroy life in minute animals
1776, N[ikolai].D[etlef]. Falck, M.D., A Treatise on the Medical Qualities of Mercury. In Three Parts, London: Sold by B. Law, page 22I'm very good at integral and differential calculus; / I know the scientific names of beings animalculous;
1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “[Major-General's Song]”, in The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, →OCLC, page 16
Origin
Cite this entry
APA
animalculous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/animalculous
MLA
“animalculous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/animalculous. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “animalculous,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/animalculous.
Source: animalculous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.