cysticercus

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The larval stage of many tapeworms, consisting of a single invaginated scolex enclosed in a fluid-filled cyst.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A cystic worm or bladder-worm; a hydatid; an encysted scolex or tænia-head; the encysted state of the larva of a tapeworm. The name was originally given as a generic term, under the impression that the so-called Cysticercus cellulosœ was a distinct genus and species of a parasite. It is the larva of the Tœnia solium, found in measly pork, and developing in man into the tapeworm. It has but one tænia-head in the cyst, and the term cysticercus is retained as a convenient designation of such larvæ. Thus, the cysticercus of the ox becomes in man Tœnia mediocanellata; the Cysticercus pisiformis of the rabbit becomes Tœnia serrata of the dog, wolf, or fox; the Cysticercus fasciolaris of the rat and mouse develops in the cat as Tœnia crassicollis. The cystic worm of Tœnia cœnurus of the dog has many heads, and is known as a cœnure; and the Cœnurus cerebralis is found in the brain of sheep. Another form of many-headed cystic worm, complicated by proliferation, is the larva of Tœnia echinococcus of the dog, known as an echinococcus, Echinococcus veterinorum being found in the liver of man as well as of various domesticanimals. See tœnia, cœnure, echinococcus, and scolex.

Wiktionary

1. n. The larval stage of any of several tapeworms, having a fluid-filled cyst enclosing a scolex.