hypnocyst

1 definition found

hypnocyst - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Hypnocyst \Hyp"no*cyst\, n. [Gr. ? sleep + E. cyst.] (Biol.)
     A cyst in which some unicellular organisms temporarily
     inclose themselves, from which they emerge unchanged, after a
     period of drought or deficiency of food. In some instances, a
     process of spore formation seems to occur within such cysts.
     [1913 Webster]