Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a species of free-living nematodes (roundworms) that primarily inhabit soil. It is a small, transparent worm used extensively as a model organism in various biological fields such as developmental biology, genetics, and neuroscience.

Caenorhabditis: The Greek prefix "caeno-" means "new," "recent," or "common," and "rhabditis" means "rod-shaped," referring to the morphology of the nematode.

elegans: This is Latin for "elegant" or "beautiful." The name likely reflects the organism's simplicity and the beautifully ordered processes of its development.