Meanings
nounsuctorian (plural suctorians)
plural suctorians
- A protist of the subclass Suctoria in the class Phyllopharyngea; a predatory sessile ciliate.
If the tentacles are touched, the ‘prey’ is instantly paralysed, and the contents of its body are sucked down the tentacle into the body of the suctorian, reducing the prey to a shrivelled husk in a matter of minutes.
2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 11
Origin
From translingual Suctoria + -an.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Suktorie
- Suktorieprotist of the Suctoria
Korean 흡관충
- 흡관충 (heupgwanchung)protist of the Suctoria
Cite this entry
APA
suctorian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suctorian
MLA
“suctorian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suctorian. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “suctorian,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suctorian.
Source: suctorian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.