flagellate
Plural: flagellates
Noun
- a usually nonphotosynthetic free-living protozoan with whiplike appendages; some are pathogens of humans and other animals
- Any organism that has flagella.
Verb
- whip
- "The religious fanatics flagellated themselves"
- To whip or scourge.
- To harshly chide or chastise, to reprimand.
- Of a spermatozoon, to move its tail back and forth.
Adjective
- having or resembling a lash or whip (as does a flagellum)
Adj
- Resembling a whip.
- Having flagella.
Origin / Etymology
Etymology tree
Latin flagrum
Latin -lus
Latin flagellum
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin flagellō
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Italic *-tos
Latin -tus
Latin flagellātuslbor.
English flagellate
First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin flagellātus perfect passive participle of flagellō (“to whip, flog”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Synonyms
flagellate protozoan, flagellated, flagellated protozoan, lash-like, mastigophoran, mastigophore, scourge, whiplike
Scrabble Score: 14
flagellate: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordflagellate: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
flagellate: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary