Pl. cœnobia [late L. cœnobium, a. Gr. κοινόβιον life in community, (in eccl. writers) convent, neut. of κοινόβιος living in community, f. κοινός common + βίος life, way of living.]
1. = CŒNOBY.
1817. Kirby & Sp., Entomol. (1828), II. xvi. 23. The regiment leaves its quarters, or … monks their Cœnobium.
1860. Sat. Rev., X. 360/2. Mr. Price, who has quitted the cœnobium.
2. Bot. a. The multilocular fruit of Labiatæ and Boraginaceæ. b. A structure formed by the union of a number of cells, constituting a stage in the life-history of certain Algæ.
1866. Treas. Bot., Cenobium.… Such fruits as those of labiates, borageworts, &c., which consist of several distinct lobes, not terminated by a style or stigma.
1882. Vines, Sachs’ Bot., 252. A number of cells unite to form the so-called Cœnobium.
3. Zool. A cluster of many unicellular animals, i.e., of ‘colonial’ Protozoa in which the individuals remain in organic connection.
1888. Athenæum, 29 Dec., 886/2. It was shown that its zoospores may sometimes escape as cœnobia, like a degenerate Volvocinean which has exchanged the motile for the fixed condition.
