A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Zoon,-i (s.n.II), abl. sg. zoo, nom. & acc. pl. zoa, dat. & abl. pl. zois [> L. zoon, s.n.II: living being, animal (first 'o' is an omega); NL. fr. Gk. zoon, s.n.II (first vowel = omega), animal, akin to Gk. zoe, life; 'a living being, animal;' syn. L. animal, q.v., gen.sg. animalis (s.n.III), a living being, an animal]: "the whole product of one fertilized egg whether consisting of a single individual (as a dog), a colony of associated persons (as many hydroids), or an asexually-produced progeny of a sexually-produced individual (as some aphids)" WIII, often distinguished from Zooid, q.v.; cf. -zoa.

-zoon, noun comb. form, pl. -zoa [NL > Gk zoon animal: living being, animal];

- cryptozoon,-i (s.n.II), abl. sg. cryptozoo, nom. & acc. pl. cryptozoa, dat. & abl. pl. cryptozois: a cryptozoan, an animal living a crytobiotic life among the organic debris of a forest floor; cytozoon,-i (s.n.II), abl. sg. cytozoo, nom. & acc. pl. cytozoa, dat. & abl. pl. cytozois: a cytozoic animal parasitic within a host cell; spermatozoon,-i (s.n.II): a motile male gamete of an animal, syn. spermatozoid.

NOTE: spermatozoon is used of animal sperm; the motile male gamete of a plant, spermatozoidium, is a seed that resembles a little animal [> Gk. zoon, s.n.II (first vowel = omega) 'a living being, animal' + eidos, resemblance + -ium, Gk. diminutive]; see -zoid (English noun suffix).

Aizoon,-i (s.n.II), Linn. These plants live under almost any treatment; hence the name is derived from aei, always, and zoon, alive. Tetragoniaceae (Paxton).