Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Cnidaria

Cnidaria (ni*dā"ri*ȧ) , noun, plural

[New Latin See Cnida.]

(Zoology) A comprehensive group equivalent to the true Colenterata, i. e., exclusive of the sponges. They are so named from presence of stinging cells (cnidae) in the tissues. See Coelenterata.