from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Encystment \En*cyst"ment\, n.
1. (Biol.) A process which, among some of the lower forms of
life, precedes reproduction by budding, fission, spore
formation, etc.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The animal (a) first contracts its body to a globular
mass (b) and then secretes a transparent cyst (c),
after which the mass divides into two or more parts (as
in d e), each of which attains freedom by the bursting
of the cyst, and becomes an individual animal.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Zo["o]l.) A process by which many internal parasites,
esp. in their larval states, become inclosed within a cyst
in the muscles, liver, etc. See {Trichina}.
[1913 Webster]