[mod. f. L. forāmin-, FORAMEN + -fer bearing; in F. foraminifère.] A rhizopod of the order Foraminifera.
1841–71. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4), 11. From the circumstances under which the young Foraminifers made their appearance, they must necessarily quit their parent in a tolerably perfect condition.
1842. Brande, Dict. Sc. Lit. & Art, Foraminifers.… A name applied by D’Orbigny to a tribe of minute shells, which he believed to be formed by Cephalopods.
