trə̇ˌpanəˈsōmə, ˌtripənōˈs- noun
Etymology: New Latin, from trypan- (from Greek, from trypanon auger, borer) + -soma
1. capitalized : a genus (the type of the family Trypanosomatidae) comprising flagellates that as adults are elongated and somewhat spindle-shaped, have a posteriorly arising flagellum which passes forward at the margin of an undulating membrane and emerges near the anterior end of the body as a short free flagellum, and are parasitic in the blood or rarely the tissues of vertebrates, that in the development phase which occurs in the digestive tract of a blood-sucking invertebrate and usually an insect pass through a series of changes comparable to the typical forms of members of the genera Leishmania, Leptomonas, and Crithidia, multiply freely, and pass ultimately to the mouthparts or salivary structures whence they may be inoculated into a new vertebrate host bitten by the invertebrate host, and that are responsible for various serious diseases of man and domestic animals — compare chagas' disease , dourine , nagana , sleeping sickness , surra
2. plural trypanosomas -məz or trypanosoma·ta -məd.ə : any flagellate of the genus Trypanosoma ; often : any member of the family Trypanosomatidae that has the typical form of a mature blood trypanosome
some leptomonads become typical trypanosomas under culture in special media