Antique engraved illustration of a flagellate. Vintage illustration of a flagellate. Old picture. Book illustration published 1907. A flagellate is a cell or organism with one or more whip-like appendages called flagella. The word flagellate also describes a particular construction (or level of organization) characteristic of many prokaryotes and eukaryotes and their means of motion. The term presently does not imply any specific relationship or classification of the organisms that possess flagella. However, the term flagellate is included in other terms (such as dinoflagellate and choanoflagellata ) which are more formally characterized.