GORDIACEA
Gor`di*a"ce*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Gordian, 1.] (Zoöl.)
Defn: A division of nematoid worms, including the hairworms or hair eels (Gordius and Mermis). See Gordius, and Illustration in Appendix.
GORDIAN
Gor"di*an, a.
1. Pertaining to Gordius, king of Phrygia, or to a knot tied by him; hence, intricate; complicated; inextricable. Gordian knot, an intricate knot tied by Gordius in the thong which connected the pole of the chariot with the yoke. An oracle having declared that he who should untie it should be master of Asia, Alexander the Great averted the ill omen of his inability to loosen it by cutting it with his sword. Hence, a Gordian knot is an inextricable difficulty; and to cut the Gordian knot is to remove a difficulty by bold and energetic measures.
2. (Zoöl.)
Defn: Pertaining to the Gordiacea.
GORDIAN
Gor"di*an, n. (Zoöl.)
Defn: One of the Gordiacea.
GORDIUS
Gor"di*us, n. Etym: [NL. See Gordian, 1.] (Zoöl.)
Defn: A genus of long, slender, nematoid worms, parasitic in insects until near maturity, when they leave the insect, and live in water, in which they deposit their eggs; — called also hair eel, hairworm, and hair snake, from the absurd, but common and widely diffused, notion that they are metamorphosed horsehairs.