different between foraminifera vs actinopods

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from New Latin Foraminifera (subphylum name), from French foraminifère (“foraminifer, foraminifera”), from French Foraminifères coined by the French naturalist Alcide d’Orbigny (1802–1857) in an 1826 article. Foraminifère is derived from Latin for?mina (“apertures, holes”) + -ifer (a variant of -fer (suffix meaning ‘bearing, carrying’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *b?er- (“to bear, carry”)), that is, “having holes”; for?mina is the plural of for?men (“aperture or opening produced by boring; hole”), from for? (“to bore, pierce”) (from Proto-Indo-European *b?erH- (“to pierce; to strike”)) + -men (suffix forming neuter nouns of the third declension).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f???m??n?f???/, /?f???m??n?f??/, /f???æm??n?f(?)??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f???æm??n?f(?)??/
• Hyphenation: for?a?min?if?era

Noun

foraminifera (plural foraminifera or foraminiferas)

1. Synonym of foraminifer (“any of a large group of aquatic amoeboid protists of the subphylum Foraminifera, characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm that among other things is used for catching food, often with a calcareous shell with many holes through which pseudopodia protrude”) [from mid 19th c.]

Usage notes

It has been suggested it is acceptable to use either foraminifera (plural foraminifera or foraminiferas) or foraminifer (plural foraminifers) as long as one form of the word and its plural(s) are used consistently throughout a text.

Derived terms

• foraminiferivore
• foraminiferivorous

Translations

Noun

foraminifera

1. plural of foraminiferon
2. plural of foraminiferum

References

English

Noun

actinopods

1. plural of actinopod