A tapeworm; a parasitic flatworm with a segmented, ribbon-like body that lives in the intestines of vertebrate hosts.
From Latin cestus ('belt') combined with Greek -ode (indicating similarity). The term references the distinctive belt-like segmented structure of tapeworms.
Tapeworms (cestodes) are medical horror stories—some parasites manipulate their host's behavior, and humans have had cestodes since ancient times, with archaeological evidence showing tapeworm infections in Egyptian mummies.
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