See Also: tunicate(medicine)
tunicate(dictionary)
tunicate(encyclopedia)

tunicate (iou)



tunicate adjective & noun. M18.
[Latin tunicat- pa. ppl stem of tunicare clothe with a tunic, from tunica TUNIC: see -ATE1.]
A. adjective. Having or enclosed in a tunic or covering; Botany (of a bulb etc.) consisting of a series of concentric layers. Also spec. in Zoology, of, pertaining to, or characteristic of tunicates. M18.
b. noun. Zoology. Any of a group of marine animals, once regarded as molluscs but now classified as chordates in the subphylum Urochordata (or Tunicata), comprising the sea squirts or ascidians and related pelagic and sessile forms characterized by a pouchlike body with a tough leathery or rubbery outer coat, having a single or double aperture through which the water enters and leaves a central pharynx. M19.