amoebayoudaoicibaDictYouDict[amoeba 词源字典]
amoeba: [19] Amoebas got their name (around 1840) from their inherent shapelessness. With their infinitely mobile exterior and their fluid interior, their shape is constantly changing, and so they were christened with the Greek word amoibē, which means literally ‘change’.
[amoeba etymology, amoeba origin, 英语词源]
amoeba (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1855, from Modern Latin Amoeba, genus name (1841), from Greek amoibe "change," related to ameibein "to change, exchange," from PIE *e-meigw-, extended form of root *mei- (1) "to change, go, move" (see mutable). So called for its constantly changing shape. Related: Amoebaean; amoebic.