“+ˈkäkəs noun
Etymology: New Latin, from echin- + -coccus
1. capitalized : a genus of tapeworms (family Taeniidae) that alternate a minute adult usually having no more than three proglottids and living as a harmless commensal in the intestine of dogs and other carnivores with a hydatid larva invading tissues especially of the liver of cattle, sheep, swine, and man, and acting as a serious often fatal pathogen
2. plural echinococ·ci : any worm of the genus Echinococcus ; sometimes : hydatid