filaria

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Related to filarian: Filarial Worm

fi·lar·i·a

(fə-lâr′ē-ə)

n. pl. fi·lar·i·ae (-ē-ē′)

Any of various slender, threadlike nematode worms of the superfamily Filarioidea that are parasitic in vertebrates and are often transmitted as larvae by mosquitoes and other biting insects. Infestation with different species of filariae cause diseases such as lymphatic filariasis (which can lead to elephantiasis) and onchocerciasis.

[New Latin Fīlāria, former genus name, from Latin fīlum, thread; see g^whī- in Indo-European roots.]

fi·lar′i·al (-ē-əl), fi·lar′i·an (-ē-ən) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

filaria

(fɪˈlɛərɪə)

n, pl -iae (-ɪˌiː)

(Animals) any parasitic nematode worm of the family Filariidae, living in the blood and tissues of vertebrates and transmitted by insects: the cause of filariasis

[C19: New Latin (former name of genus), from Latin fīlum thread]

fiˈlarial, fiˈlarian adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fi•lar•i•a

(fɪˈlɛər i ə)

n., pl. -lar•i•ae (-ˈlɛər iˌi)

any small threadlike roundworm of the superfamily Filarioidea, carried by mosquitoes and parasitic when adult in the blood or tissues of vertebrates.

[< New Latin: a genus (1787) = Latin fīl(um) thread + -āria -aria]

fi•lar′i•al, adj.

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Noun	1.	filaria - European weed naturalized in southwestern United States and Mexico having reddish decumbent stems with small fernlike leaves and small deep reddish-lavender flowers followed by slender fruits that stick straight up; often grown for forage alfilaria, alfileria, clocks, Erodium cicutarium, filaree, pin clover, pin grass, redstem storksbill heron's bill, storksbill - any of various plants of the genus Erodium
	2.	filaria - slender threadlike roundworms living in the blood and tissues of vertebrates; transmitted as larvae by biting insects nematode, nematode worm, roundworm - unsegmented worms with elongated rounded body pointed at both ends; mostly free-living but some are parasitic family Filariidae, Filariidae - threadlike roundworms

References in periodicals archive ?

When they bite an infected victim, the female black fly takes in larvae of the nematode that causes the illness, the filarian worm (Onchocerca volvulus).