ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈnäləpə̇s noun
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from hymen- + -lepis
: a genus of small taenioid tapeworms (type of the family Hymenolepididae) including numerous comparatively innocuous parasites (as the dwarf tapeworm of man) of birds and mammals that usually require insect intermediate hosts but may be able in some cases (as the dwarf tapeworm) to complete the life cycle in a single host by means of a hexacanth which hatches in the intestine, invades a villus, and there develops into a cysticercoid which ultimately escapes and develops into an adult tapeworm in the lumen of the intestine