speciation

speciation (usually uncountable, plural speciations)

In both groups, however, we find copious and intricate speciation so that, often, species limits are narrow and ill defined.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 3:

No one had ever seen a new species produced, nor, according to Darwin, should they expect to. Speciation was so drawn out as to be, for all intents and purposes unobservable.

2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Picador, →ISBN, page 55:

(taxonomy) The process by which new distinct species evolve.


guanodine

guanosine monophosphate
guanosine monophosphate

guanosine diphosphate
guanosine diphosphate

guanosine triphosphate
guanosine triphosphate

(biochemistry, genetics) any of the three nucleotides guanosine monophosphate, guanosine diphosphate and guanosine triphosphate


guanosine

en-noun

guanosine (countable and uncountable, plural guanosines)

(biochemistry, genetics, organic chemistry) A nucleoside derived from guanine and ribose


adenosine

From German Adenosin, corresponding to aden(ine) + (rib)os(e) + -ine.

Caffeine acts as an antagonist at receptors in the brain for one of the chemical messengers called adenosine.

2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 82:

Think of adenosine as a chemical barometer that continuously registers the amount of elapsed time since you woke up this morning.

2017, Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep, Penguin, published 2018, page 27:

SAM: Readings confirmed. Based on the levels of adenosine in your system, the neural implant is functioning properly.

2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Hyperion:

Adenosine levels can be quickly righted after a few nights of good sleep, however.

2022 June 24, Oliver Whang, “The Sleep Debt Collector Is Here”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(biochemistry, genetics, organic chemistry) A nucleoside derived from adenine and ribose, found in striated muscle tissue.


crepuscular

en-adj

crepuscular (comparative more crepuscular, superlative most crepuscular)

more crepuscular (comparative)
most crepuscular (superlative)

Learned borrowing from Latin crepusculum + -ar.

lbor

That's why cats are crepuscular — most active at dawn and dusk — because mice and rats forage for food during these hours when fewer of their natural enemies are around.

1999, J. Anne Helgren, Communicating with Your Cat, →ISBN, page 51:

(zoology) Active at or around dusk, dawn or twilight.

crepuscular

active at or around dusk, dawn or twilight


bryology

(botany) The study of bryophytes (non-vascular plants including mosses, liverworts and hornworts).


everlasting

en-adj

everlasting (comparative more everlasting, superlative most everlasting)

more everlasting (comparative)
most everlasting (superlative)
ever-lasting (alternative)

/ˌɛvəˈlɑːstɪŋ/

/ˌɛvəɹˈlæstɪŋ/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-everlasting.wav

From Middle English ever-lasting (“(adjective) eternal, perpetual; constant; (adverb) eternally; (noun) eternity”), from ever (“at all times, always, constantly; eternally, perpetually; regularly; etc.”) + lasting (“continuing, lasting; eternal; etc.”).
* Ever is derived from Old English ǣfre (“ever”), possibly from ā (“always, ever”) + in fēore (“in life”). Ā is from Proto-West Germanic *aiw (“eternity; long time”), from Proto-Germanic *aiwaz (“long time; eternity”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- (“life, vital force; long time; eternity”); and fēore is the dative singular of feorh (“life”), from Proto-West Germanic *ferh (“life; kind of tree”), from Proto-Germanic *ferhwą (“body; life; tree”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- (“oak tree”) (as the oak represented life and vitality in Germanic mythology).
* Lasting is derived from lasten (“to continue, last; etc.”) + -ing (suffix forming present participle forms of verbs, often used as adjectives)); and lasten from Old English lǣstan (“to follow, pursue; to carry out, perform”), from Proto-West Germanic *laistijan (“to follow, pursue; to carry out, perform”), from Proto-Germanic *laistijaną (“to follow, pursue”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to trace, track”).
By surface analysis, ever (adverb) + lasting (adjective).

চিরন্তন

lasting or enduring forever — see also endless, eternal

(botany) Chiefly in the name of a plant:

Having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried.

iki-

having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried

The roote is threddy, like the roote of the ſecond kinde of Scrophularia, and is euer[-]laſting, putting forth yearely new ſprings, as alſo doth the rootes of the other two Scrophularies.

1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Water Betony⸝ or Broune-wurte”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Sundry Sortes of Herbes and Plantes), page 44:

[T]he ſtalkes and leaues of this [Telephium sempervirum or virens] indure alſo the ſharpneſſe of vvinter, and therefore vve may call it in Engliſh Orpin euerlaſting, or neuer dying Orpin.

1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of the Smaller Orpins”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, page 417:

Lathyrus ſylveſtris flore luteo. Tare everlaſting. This ramping vvilde Vetch or Tare as the country people call it, becauſe it is the moſt pernicious herbe that can grovv on the earth, for corne or any other good herbe that it ſhall grovv by, killing and ſtrangling them: […]

1640, John Parkinson, “Lathyrus. The Great Wilde Cicheling or Pease Everlasting.”, in Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, An Herball of a Large Extent: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, →OCLC, page 1062:

Of a plant or plant part: synonym of perennial (“active throughout the year, or having a life cycle of more than two growing seasons”).


everlasting

en-noun

everlasting (countable and uncountable, plural everlastings)

/ˌɛvəˈlɑːstɪŋ/

/ˌɛvəɹˈlæstɪŋ/

large-flowered everlasting

Anaphalis margaritacea or Helichrysum macranthum

pease-everlasting

Lathyrus, especially Lathyrus latifolius and Lathyrus sylvestris

sticky everlasting

Ozothamnus thyrsoideus or Xerochrysum viscosum

This yellovv Euerlaſting or Floure-Gentle, called of the later Herbariſts Yellovv Strœcas, is a plant that hath ſtalkes of a ſpan long, […] The floures ſtand on the tops of the ſtalks, […] of a bright yellovv colour; vvhich being gathered before they be ripe, do keep their colour and beauty a long time vvithout vvithering, […]

1633, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], Thomas Johnson, “Of Golden Floure-gentle”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], enlarged edition, London: […] Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers, →OCLC, book II, page 645:

With a backward look Small said, “What a lovely lily!” / “Well enough but strong-smelling, gaudy. Come see the everlastings.”

1942, Emily Carr, “The Orange Lily”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC; republished as The Book of Small (eBook; 0400201.txt), [Australia]: Project Gutenberg Australia, February 2004:

'I am rather past looking like a flower, I am afraid,' she said. 'I can't see that,' I said. 'It is true perhaps it is too late now for you to look like a rose; but you can always look like an everlasting.' I really meant it for a compliment, and to put her in a good mood; but, woman-like, she took it the wrong way.

1974 (date written), G[erald] B[asil] Edwards, chapter 7, in The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, Mount Kisco, N.Y.: Moyer Bell, published 1981, →ISBN, page 313:

everlasting flower
everlasting flower#English

(countable, botany) Chiefly with a descriptive word: short for everlasting flower (“any of several plants, chiefly of the family Asteraceae (principally the tribe Gnaphalieae), having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried; also, a flower of such a plant”)


mantle

From Middle English mantel, from Old English mæntel, mentel (“sleeveless cloak”), from Proto-West Germanic *mantel; later reinforced by Anglo-Norman mantel, both from Latin mantēllum (“covering, cloak”), diminutive of mantum (French manteau, Spanish manto), probably from Gaulish *mantos, *mantalos (“trodden road”), from Proto-Celtic *mantos, *mantlos, from Proto-Indo-European *menH- (“tread, press together; crumble”). Compare Icelandic möttull. Doublet of manteau.

der

He grasps the female from slightly below about the mid-mantle region and positions himself so his arms are close to the opening of her mantle.

1990, Daniel L. Gilbert, William J. Adelman, John M. Arnold (editors), Squid as Experimental Animals, page 71

Molluscan bodies are broadly divided into two parts: a muscular foot and a shell-secreting mantle.

2017, Danna Staaf, Squid Empire, ForeEdge, →ISBN, page 8:

(malacology) The body wall of a mollusc, from which the shell is secreted.

(ornithology) The back of a bird together with the folded wings.


insectivore

/ɪnˈsɛktəˌvɔː/

/ɪnˈsɛktəˌvɔɹ/

From French insectivore. In the zoological sense, coined by English philosopher and historian of science William Whewell in 1840 as an adaptation of Cuvier's coinage, French insectivore. The French terms reflect scientific New Latin origins. By surface analysis, insect + -i- + -vore.

surf

(zoology, dated) mammal of the now abandoned order Insectivora.


conformer

(physical chemistry, biochemistry) A particular folded state or conformation of a protein, especially an abnormal conformation of a prion


simulant

(chiefly biology) Simulating, replacing, or having the form or appearance of something else.


crochet

crochets (plural)
crotchet (alternative archaic)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-crochet.wav

From French crochet, from Middle French crochet, from Old French crochet, crokét (“curved instrument, hook”), diminutive of Old French croc (“hook”), from Old Frankish *krōk (“hook”) or from Old Norse krókr (“hook, bend, bight”), both from Proto-Germanic *krōkaz (“hook”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerg- (“tracery, basket, twist”). Cognate with Middle English crōc (“crook, hook”), Middle Dutch croec, crōc (“curl”). Doublet of crocket, croquet, and crotchet. More at crook, crooked.

doublet

(zoology) A certain crest of enamel on the molar teeth of some rhinoceroses.


encode

en-verb

encode (third-person singular simple present encodes, present participle encoding, simple past and past participle encoded)

encodes (present singular third-person)
encoding (participle present)
encoded (participle past)
encoded (past)

Berg, Jeremy M. with Tymoczko, John and Stryer, Lubert (2002) “RNA Synthesis and Splicing”, in Biochemistry, Fifth eidtion edition, W H Freeman and Company, →ISBN, retrieved 2009-12-05: “The ability of one gene to encode more than one distinct mRNA and, hence, more than one protein may play a key role in expanding the repertoire of our genomes.”

(biology) To constitute the code necessary for the biosynthesis of a protein by means of a matrix so as to transcribe DNA material.


AFP

(biochemistry) Initialism of alpha-fetoprotein.


cycloamylose

(biochemistry) any of a class of cyclic oligomers of glucose; they have a toroidal shape and bind tightly with many aromatic compounds, the guest molecule fitting into the cavity like a key and lock; they mimic the action of several enzymes


gen

I had some recent gen that they had been seen quite recently at Kunoth Well, a little dot on the map on the edge of the Tanami Desert.

2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 172:

(birdwatching) Information about the location of a bird.


cytochemistry

en-noun

cytochemistry (usually uncountable, plural cytochemistries)

(biochemistry) The biochemistry of cells, especially that of the macromolecules responsible for cell structure and function.


equine rhabdomyelosis

(veterinary medicine) A condition that affects the muscles of horses, ranging from stiffness and mild cramps to the horse becoming unable to stand and producing discoloured urine.


hormonal

en-adj

hormonal (comparative more hormonal, superlative most hormonal)

more hormonal (comparative)
most hormonal (superlative)

The authors also said they attempted to investigate whether there are differing breast cancer risks between hormonal and nonhormonal IUDs.

2023 March 21, Jessie Gretener, “Progestagen-only contraceptives carry similar, small breast cancer risk as other hormone contraceptives, study finds”, in CNN:


roseate

roseate (comparative more roseate, superlative most roseate)

more roseate (comparative)
most roseate (superlative)

From Middle English roseat, from Anglo-Latin roseātus, equivalent to rose + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

The countess took the roseate palm and snowy fingers of this lovely child.

1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter VII, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:

Now the rum, as has been said, was criminally overproof, and they had had no intoxicants for a long time. And so a couple of stiff drinks produced a beautiful and generous expansion of soul. The mean cabin became larger, the fire warmer and more cheerful, and life generally of a more roseate hue. They began to feel the prodigal Thanksgiving spirit, and to regret their limited opportunities for satisfying it.

1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate:

On Professor Solanka’s street, well-heeled white youths lounged in baggy garments on roseate stoops, stylishly simulating indigence while they waited for the billionairedom that would surely be along sometime soon.

2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 4:

(formal, chiefly zoology) Like the rose flower; pink; rosy.


nodding

(botany) Having the flower facing downwards.


degraded

degraded (comparative more degraded, superlative most degraded)

more degraded (comparative)
most degraded (superlative)

/dɪˈɡɹeɪdɪd/

/dɪˈɡɹeɪdɪd/

[dɪˈɡɹeɪɾɪd]

/dɪˈɡɹæɪdɪd/

[dɪˈɡɹæɪɾɪd]

See degrade and compare French degré (“step”).

The Grapsoid species are represented of a degraded form in Porcellana

(biology) Having the typical characters or organs in a partially developed condition, or lacking certain parts.


replication

en-noun

replication (countable and uncountable, plural replications)

/ɹɛplɪˈkeɪʃən/

Inherited from Middle English replicacioun, replicacion, from Anglo-Norman replicacioun and Old French replicacion (“reply, answer”), from Latin replicātiō, replicātiōnem. By surface analysis, replicate + -(at)ion.

surf

(biology) The process of producing replicas of DNA or RNA molecules.


dendrochronology

(biology, archaeology) The science that uses the spacing between the annual growth rings of trees to date their exact year of formation.


aecidium

aecidia (plural)
aecidiums (plural)
æcidium (alternative)
oecidium (alternative)

From New Latin aecidium, the diminutive form of Ancient Greek αἰκίᾱ (aikíā, “injury”).
However Merriam-Webster takes the origin from Ancient Greek οἰκίδιον (oikídion) and refers to the botanist John Hill, in his A General Natural History, or New and Accurate Descriptions of the Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals, of the Different Parts of the World, vol. II, A History of Plants (London: Printed for Thomas Osborne, 1751), p. 64: "We have called this genus, distinguished by its peculiar cells, Æcidium, from the Greek οικιδιον, cellula." Compare also many other fungal spore-related terms in -idium, most coined after this one.

(mycology) A member of the form genus Aecidium.


rachitis

Unadapted borrowing from New Latin rachitis, used by the British physician Francis Glisson (1597–1677) to refer to rickets, from Koine Greek ῥαχῖτις (rhakhîtis) (in ῥαχῖτις νόσος (rhakhîtis nósos, “spinal inflammation”, literally “spinal disease”)), the feminine form of ῥαχίτης (rhakhítēs, “in or of the spine, spinal”), from Ancient Greek ῥάχῐς (rhákhĭs, “lower part of the back; (anatomy) backbone, spine”) (probably ultimately Pre-Greek) + -ῖτις (-îtis) (feminine form of -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, suffix forming nouns with the sense ‘one connected to’)). By surface analysis, rachi- + -itis.

nb...

operâ primò ac potissimm Francisci Glissonii Doctoris & publici professoris medicinæ in almâ Cantabrigiæ academiâ, & socii collegii medicorum Londinensium, conscriiptus: adscitis in operis societatem Georgio Bate, & Ahasuero Regemortero medicinæ quoque doctoribus, & pariter sociis collegii medicorum Londinensium

First and Most Powerfully by Francis Glisson Doctor & Public Professor of Medicine in the University of Cambridge, & a Member of the College of Physicians of London: Approved in affiliated works by George Bate, & Assuerus Regimorter also doctors of medicine, & fellow members of the College of Physicians of London

apud quos veneunt in vico vulgò-vocato Little Britain

and to be sold in the neighbourhood commonly known as Little Britain

der

(botany) A disease that produces abortion in the flower, seed, or fruit.


riboflavin

en-noun

riboflavin (countable and uncountable, plural riboflavins)

(biochemistry) Yellow or orange-yellow water-soluble compound, a member of the vitamin B complex, that acts as a growth-promoting factor in humans and other animals.


lyse

en-verb

lyse (third-person singular simple present lyses, present participle lysing, simple past and past participle lysed)

lyses (present singular third-person)
lysing (participle present)
lysed (participle past)
lysed (past)

(biology) To burst or cut a cell or cell structure; to induce lysis.

(biochemistry) To break down molecularly into smaller molecules; to induce lysis.


anadromous

From Ancient Greek ἀνάδρομος (anádromos, “fish entering a river from the sea”). By surface analysis, ana- + -dromous.

der

(botany) Of a fern: in which the first veins in a frond segment are produced towards the apex of the frond.


cruciferous

From Late Latin crucifer (“cross-bearing”) + -ous. By surface analysis, crucifer + -ous.

suffix

And cruciferous vegetables—broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage—are loaded with sulforaphane.

2007 November, Elizabeth Drake, “Combine and conquer: Use these winning food pairings to protect your health”, in Men's Health, volume 22, number 9, →ISSN, page 126:

(botany) Of or relating to the crucifer plants or products from these plants; of the family Cruciferae, the cabbage family, including cabbage and mustard.


crucifer

From Latin crucifer (“cross-bearer”), from crux (“cross”) + ferō (“I carry, bear”).

(botany) A member of the family Cruciferae (Brassicaceae), the cabbage family, including cabbage and mustard.

kruisbloem

(botany) a member of the family Cruciferae


pectoral fin

(ichthyology) Either of two fins located on each side of a fish just behind the head.


anal fin

(ichthyology) A fin located on the underside of a fish behind the anus.


caudal

Borrowed from Latin caudālis (“having a tail”).

The male widow-bird, remarkable for his caudal plumes, […]

1871, Charles Darwin, “Principles of Sexual Selection”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Part II (Sexual Selection), page 269:

Dassoud […] stepped forward with a lash composed of the caudal appendages of half a dozen wildebeests.

1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 3:

(zoology) Pertaining to the tail or posterior or hind part of a body.


pelvic fin

(ichthyology) Either of a pair of fins on either side and towards the rear of a fish.


vexillum

Borrowed from Latin vēxillum (“flag, banner”).

(botany) The upper petal of a papilionaceous flower.

vexilo

the upper petal of a papilionaceous flower

(ornithology) The rhachis and web of a feather taken together.


homeomorphy

(biology) The evolution of similar external forms from very distant ancestors.

omeomorfia

biology: the evolution of similar external forms from very distant ancestors


dextran

en-noun

dextran (countable and uncountable, plural dextrans)

(biochemistry) A biopolymer of glucose produced by enzymes of certain bacteria; used as a substitute for blood plasma, and as a stationary phase in chromatography.

dextran

a biopolymer of glucose produced by enzymes of certain bacteria


dextrin

dextrin (countable and uncountable, plural dextrins)

dextrins (plural)
dextrine (alternative dated)

(biochemistry) Any of a range of oligomers of glucose, intermediate in complexity between maltose and starch, produced by the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch; used commercially as adhesives.


PAE

postantibiotic effect
postantibiotic effect#English

(pharmacology, microbiology) Initialism of postantibiotic effect.


checklist

a checklist of the plants of the Guiana Shield

(taxonomy) An inventory, especially of species.


zoophagous

/zəʊˈɒfəɡəs/

/zuːˈɒfəɡəs/

A zoophagous insect.

My homicidal maniac is of a peculiar kind. I shall have to invent a new classification for him, and call him a zoöphagous (life-eating) maniac; what he desires is to absorb as many lives as he can, and he has laid himself out to achieve it in a cumulative way.

1897, Bram Stoker, chapter VI, in Dracula, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 67:


inarticulate

en-adj

inarticulate (comparative more inarticulate, superlative most inarticulate)

more inarticulate (comparative)
most inarticulate (superlative)

From Latin inarticulatus and from in- + articulate. See -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

(biology) Not having joints or other articulations.

несъчленен

not having joints or other articulations


inarticulate

From the substantivation of the above adjective through the associated taxon's name (Inarticulata). Used by contrast with Articulata.

(zoology, obsolete) An animal belonging to the subphylum Inarticulata.


EIA

(biology) Initialism of enzymoimmunoassay.


exogenous

(biology) Produced or originating outside of the referent organism.

en:originating outside the referent organism

exogen

Produced or originating outside of an organism.

(biology) Growing as an exogen, by successive additions to the outside.

(biology, dermatology, uncommon) Related to the exogen growth phase.


metalloprotein

(biochemistry) a protein, such as haemoglobin or chlorophyll, that contains a metal atom as a cofactor

metalloproteiini

a protein that contains a metal atom as a cofactor


cofactor

(biochemistry) A substance, especially a coenzyme or a metal, that must be present for an enzyme to function.

輔因子 /辅因子

substance that must be present for an enzyme to function

(biochemistry) A molecule that binds to and regulates the activity of a protein.


angel of death

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-angel of death.wav

مَلَك الْمَوْت

personification of death in fiction and in art

死神 (しにがみ, shinigami, literally “death kami, death spirit”)

destroying angel
destroying angel#English

(mycology) Synonym of destroying angel (“a type of mushroom”).


epigenetics

/ˌɛpɪd͡ʒəˈnɛtɪks/

Blend of epigenesis + genetics; coined by C. H. Waddington in 1942.

Epigenetics deals with the regulation of genetic activity within a cell - which genes are switched on or off, and when it happens.

2010 November 6, “Sins of the Fathers”, in New Scientist:

The nuts and bolts of how this happens revolves around the massively trendy field of “epigenetics,” revealing how early life experience causes long-lasting changes in gene expression in particular brain regions.

2023, Robert M. Sapolsky, Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will, New York: Penguin, →ISBN:

(genetics) The study of the processes involved in the genetic development of an organism, especially the activation and deactivation of genes.

(genetics) The study of heritable changes caused by the activation and deactivation of genes without any change in DNA sequence.


epigenesis

en-noun

epigenesis (countable and uncountable, plural epigeneses)

Ignored for two millennia, Aristotle, in his book On the Generation of Animals, first proposed the theory of epigenesis in biology, suggesting that development of a plant or animal from an egg or spore follows a sequence of steps in which the organism changes and the various organs form.

2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 100:

(biology) The theory that an organism develops by differentiation from an unstructured egg rather than by simple enlarging of something preformed.


epinephrine

epinephrine (countable and uncountable, plural epinephrines)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-epinephrine.wav

From Ancient Greek ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) + νεφρός (nephrós, “kidney”) + -ine.

At the ER, after deflating me with a cocktail of epinephrine, a steroid and an antihistamine, the doctors scolded me for not coming in more quickly: I could have died of asphyxiation.

2023 November 1, “‘We’re sedating women with self-care’: how we became obsessed with wellness”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(biochemistry, organic chemistry, medicine) A catecholamine hormone and neurotransmitter; as a hormone, secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress (when it stimulates the autonomic nervous system); as a neurotransmitter, synthesized from norepinephrine. It is also used as a medication.


adrenaline

adrenaline (usually uncountable, plural adrenalines)

adrenalines (plural)
adrenalin (alternative)

→ Catalan: adrenalina

→ Dutch: adrenaline

→ French: adrénaline

→ Spanish: adrenalina

→ Swahili: adrenalini

/əˈdɹɛnəlɪn/

From adrenal + -ine, coined by Japanese chemist Takamine Jōkichi in 1901.

coin

(biochemistry) Epinephrine, the hormone and neurotransmitter.


tropism

en-noun

tropism (countable and uncountable, plural tropisms)

From -tropism (suffix meaning ‘growth towards; movement, turning’) (possibly based on geotropism and heliotropism), from Latin tropus + English -ism (suffix forming nouns of action, process, or result). Tropus is derived from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “a turn; a manner, style, way; figure of speech, trope; etc.”), from τρέπω (trépō, “to turn; to divert; to rotate or change orientation”) (from Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns of result or abstract nouns of action).
Sense 1 (“turning of an organism or part of an organism towards or away from a stimulus”) is modelled after German Tropismus.

der

Orientation and tropism are synonymous expressions; that gatherings [of Paramecium] take place is a consequence of the orientation, and therefore throws no light whatever upon the tropisms. (Gatherings, however, are not always indicative of a tropism, i.e., of an orientation, but may be due to kinesis […]

1900 January, Walter E[ugene] Garrey, “The Effects of Ions upon the Aggregation of Flagellated Infusoria: A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculties of the Graduate Schools of Arts, Literature, and Science, in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Physiology)”, in American Journal of Physiology, volume 3, number 6, Bethesda, Md.: American Physiological Society, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 313:

Phototropic orientation of an embryo plant in zero gravity […] On earth, a germinated seedling can be placed in any position and the radicle will invariably turn the embryo plant "downward" and the hypocotle "upward". This is because positive root tropism toward gravity and negative stem tropism away from gravity. In the absence of gravity, will the plumules and the stem of the embryo plant reacting positively to phototropism guide the entire plant including the root system for its directional orientation?

1972 November, “Samples of the Student Proposals as Submitted by Students”, in Skylab Student Project: Information for Teachers (including Classroom Activities) (NASA EP; 106), Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, →OCLC, page 17, column 1:

Tropism means that the roots or branches move by turning towards or turning away from environmental stimuli. We have implemented this behavior in the roots of the plantoid [i.e., a robot or synthetic organism designed to act like a plant], integrating sensors and using an adaptive material for growing.

2021, Michael Friedman, Karin Krauthausen, Barbara Mazzolai, quoting Barbara Mazzolai, “Interview with Barbara Mazzolai: Plants, Plantoids, and Active Materials”, in Peter Fratzl, Michael Friedman, Karin Krauthausen, Wolfgang Schäffner, editors, Active Materials, Berlin; Boston, Mass.: Walter De Gruyter, →DOI, →ISBN, page 139:

(uncountable, biology) The turning of an organism (chiefly a plant) or part of an organism either towards or away from a stimulus; (countable) an instance of this.

tropisme

turning of an organism or part of an organism either towards or away from a stimulus; an instance of this

host tropism    tissue tropism

Studies similar to those describe above for cells cultivated in vitro were performed using homogenates of tissues and organs from humans and rhesus monkeys to investigate tissue tropisms in susceptible species […] McLaren (personal communication) found an excellent correlation between poliovirus tissue tropisms and presence or absence of receptor activity in human and rhesus tissues and organs.

1964, J. J. Holland, “Viruses in Animals and in Cell Culture”, in Joan Taylor, editor, Microbial Behaviour, ‘in Vivo’ and ‘in Vitro’: Fourteenth Symposium of the Society for General Microbiology Held at the Royal Institution, London, April 1964, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press for the Society for General Microbiology, →OCLC, page 271:

Virus tropism can be defined at two levels: host tropism being the range of host species that a virus can productively infect, and tissue tropism reflecting the particular tissues or organs within the host that are the site(s) of virus replication. […] The primary determinant of virus tropism is the presence on the cell surface of a suitable receptor which the virus can utilize to gain entry to the cell.

1977, D. J. Evans, “Picornavirus Receptors, Tropism and Pathogenesis”, in M. A. McCrae, J. R. Saunders, C. J. Smyth, N. D. Stow, editors, Molecular Aspects of Host–pathogen Interactions: Fifty-fifth Symposium of the Society for General Microbiology Held at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, March 1997, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press for the Society for General Microbiology, →ISBN, page 23:

HBLV [human B-cell lymphotropic virus] has a broad range of cell tropisms, and it infects B cells, T cells, megakaryocytes, and glioblastoma cells.

1989 January 4, Susan P. Spring, Ann Scluederberg, William P. Allen, Jack Gruber, “Commentary: Pathogenic Diversity of Epstein-Barr Virus”, in Robert E. Wittes, editor, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, volume 81, number 1, Bethesda, Md.: National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, Department of Health & Human Services, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19, column 1:

A very wide spectrum of tissue tropism among the animal adenoviruses is evident, e.g. porcine adenovirus type 3 shows a tropism for columnar epithelial cells whereas bovine adenoviruses prefer capillary endothelial cells; however, it is not clear how far tissue tropism relates to pathogenesis and disease.

1994, William C. Russell, Mária Benkö, “Animal Viruses”, in Robert G[ordon] Webster, Allan Granoff, editors, Encyclopedia of Virology, volume 1, London; San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, →ISBN, pages 16–17:

The capacity of a virus to selectively infect cells in particular organs is referred to as tropism[…]. Viral tropism depends on viral and host factors.

1999, Frederick A. Murphy, E. Paul J. Gibbs, Marian C. Horzinek, Michael J. Studdert, “Mechanisms of Infection and Viral Spread through the Body”, in Veterinary Virology, 3rd edition, San Diego, Calif.; London: Academic Press, →ISBN, part I (Principles of Virology), page 97, column 1:

Orthoreovirus has primary tropisms associated with its acquisition and transmission as an upper respiratory infection and those include the facial sinuses, lungs, pharynx, and tonsils, presumably its tropism towards the intestines represents a secondary tropism (assuming that fecal-oral transmission does not also represent a primary route of disease spread, in which case the intestines would have to be considered a primary tropism), […]

2011, Christon J. Hurst, “The Relationship between Humans, Their Viruses, and Prions”, in Christon J. Hurst, editor, Studies in Viral Ecology: Animal Host Systems, volume 2, Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, section II (Viruses of Macroscopic Animals), page 361, column 1:

(countable, by extension, chiefly virology) A capability or tendency for a pathogen (chiefly a virus) to infect a type of cell, tissue, organ, or host organism.

tropismi

capability or tendency for a pathogen to infect a type of cell, tissue, organ, or host organism


hydrostatic skeleton

en-noun

hydrostatic skeleton (plural hydrostatic skeletons)

(biology) a fluid-filled cavity that surrounds the soft bodies of certain invertebrates such as jellyfish


cavitation

cavitation (countable and uncountable, plural cavitations)

/ˌkævɪˈteɪʃən/

(biology) The formation of cavities in an organ, especially in lung tissue as a result of tuberculosis.

onteloituminen

biology: formation of cavities in an organ


genetics

From Ancient Greek γένεσις (génesis, “origin”). Coined by English biologist William Bateson in 1905 in a letter to zoologist Adam Sedgwick, and first used publicly by Bateson at a lecture to the International Conference on Plant Hybridization in 1906.

coin

If we want to raise mangels that will not run to seed, or to breed a cow that will give more milk in less time, or milk with more butter and less water, we can turn to Genetics with every hope that something can be done in these laudable directions.

1908, William Bateson, The Methods and Scope of Genetics: An Inaugural Lecture Delivered 23 October 1908:

Genetics has shown that people are different, and these differences cluster according to geography and culture, but never in a way that aligns with the traditional concepts of human races.

2017, Adam Rutherford, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, The Experiment, →ISBN, page 263:

(biology) The branch of biology that deals with the transmission and variation of inherited characteristics, in particular chromosomes and DNA.

As a result of your father’s, mother’s, and their parents genetics, you are born with a genetic structure that is dealt to you at conception. […] Our ancestry determines our genetics.

2005, Mark Linden O’Meara, The Feeling Soul: A Roadmap to Healing and Living, Soul Care Publishing, →ISBN, page 45:

This amazing occurrence made my head go bong to say the least; it was obvious that Elizabeth had not been “schizophrenic” because of her genetics, nor because of stress, nor malnutrition, nor hypoglycemia, nor because of any of the causes of mental illness that I had learned and rectify, but because of food allergies

2006, Jay Irvin, Fire Your Doctor!: How and When to be Your Own Best Medical Advisor, →ISBN, page 18:

Anthony knew he could excel in boxing because of his genetics. He fought 168 pounds and fought in fights around the Tri-Cities.

2010, Mike Furches, The Keystone Kids, →ISBN, page 238:

(biology) The genetic makeup of a specific individual or species.


EPO

en-noun

EPO (countable and uncountable, plural EPOs)

(biochemistry) Initialism of erythropoietin.


ruderal

Borrowed from New Latin rūderālis, from Latin rūdus (“rubble”).

(botany) Any plant growing in rubbish or very poor soil

(botany) A plant tending to volunteer in disturbed soil.


ruderal

en-adj

ruderal (comparative more ruderal, superlative most ruderal)

more ruderal (comparative)
most ruderal (superlative)

Rafinesque perfected his variant of this honorable philosophy while botanizing in the literal backyards of my childhood, examining ruderal plants I've known all my life, and so I have appropriated it from him, with minor tweaks.

(botany) That grows in rubbish or poor soil


zymogen

(biochemistry) A proenzyme, or enzyme precursor, which requires a biochemical change (i.e. hydrolysis) to become an active form of the enzyme.


zygospore

(botany) A spore formed by the union of several zoospores.


zygosis

en-noun

zygosis (countable and uncountable, plural zygoses)

Near-synonym: zygogenesis

(biology) The union of gametes to form a zygote; conjugation.


zygobranchiate

en-adj

zygobranchiate (comparative more zygobranchiate, superlative most zygobranchiate)

more zygobranchiate (comparative)
most zygobranchiate (superlative)

(zoology) Of or pertaining to the Zygobranchia


zymophyte

From zymo- (“yeast”) + -phyte (“plant”).

(biochemistry) A fermentation produced by bacteria, yeasts or similar micro-organisms.


zymogene

It thus prevents these from converting the zymogene into the ferment.

1892, American Journal of Pharmacy and the Sciences Supporting Public Health, page 203:

(biology) One of a physiological group of globular bacteria that produce fermentations of diverse nature; — distinguished from pathogene.

From these researches, it is concluded that a portion of the amylase is present in the potato in the form of zymogene which is transformed into an active enzyme towards the end of the resting stage;

1916, International Review of the Science and Practice of Agriculture, page 1094:


soredium

Latinate form from Ancient Greek σωρός (sōrós, “heap”).

(lichenology) A common scalelike reproductive structure in lichens consisting of algal cells enveloped in a network of hyphae.


zygosperm

(botany) A spore formed by the union of the contents of two similar cells, either of the same or of distinct individual plants. They are found in certain orders of algae and fungi.


zygophyte

From zygo- (“union; pair”) + -phyte (“plant”).

confix

(botany, obsolete) Any plant of a formerly proposed class or grand division (Zygophytes, Zygophyta, or Zygosporeae), in which reproduction consists in the union of two similar cells.


zygodactyl

(ornithology) Any bird with toes of this kind, such as the parrot.


zygenid

(zoology) Any one of numerous species of moths of the family Zygaenidae, most of which are bright colored.


naiad

From Latin Nāïas, from Ancient Greek Νᾱϊάς (Nāïás, “naiad”), from νάω (náō, “to flow”).

(entomology) The aquatic larva (nymph) of a dragonfly or damselfly.


zoönite

(zoology) Alternative spelling of zoonite.


zooid

From zoo- + -oid. Compare Ancient Greek ζῴδιον (zṓidion, “animal”).

cog

(biology) An organic body or cell having locomotion, as a spermatic cell or spermatozoid.

(zoology) An animal in one of its inferior or early stages of development, as one of the intermediate forms in alternate generation.

(zoology) One of the individual animals in a composite group, as of Anthozoa, Hydrozoa, and Bryozoa; — sometimes restricted to those individuals in which the mouth and digestive organs are not developed.


zooid

en-adj

zooid (comparative more zooid, superlative most zooid)

more zooid (comparative)
most zooid (superlative)
zoöid (alternative)

(biology) Relating to, or resembling, an animal.


zoogloea

en-noun

zoogloea (plural zoogloeas or zoogloeae)

zoogloeas (plural)
zoogloeae (plural)
zoöglœa (alternative)
zooglea (alternative)

/ˌzəʊ.əˈɡliː.ə/

From zoo- + Ancient Greek γλοία (gloía).

(biology) A colony or mass of bacteria embedded in a viscous gelatinous substance, characteristic of a transitory stage through which rapidly multiplying bacteria pass in the course of their evolution.


zoögeography

zoögeography (usually uncountable, plural zoögeographies)

(zoology) Alternative spelling of zoogeography.


zoogamy

(zoology) The sexual reproduction of animals.


zooerythrine

(zoology) Alternative spelling of zooerythrin.


zoëa

zoëas (plural)
zoëae (plural)
zoaea (alternative)
zoea (alternative)
zooea (alternative)

From New Latin zōaea, zōēa, from Ancient Greek ζωή (zōḗ, “life”) (compare ζῷον (zôion)).

(zoology) A larval stage of certain decapod crustaceans, especially of decapods such as crabs and certain Anomura, also called the copepod stage, characterized by spines on the carapace and rudimentary thoracic and abdominal limbs.


zoanthodeme

From zoanthid + deme (“ecological population”).

compound

(zoology) The zooids of a compound anthozoan, collectively.


cohesion

en-noun

cohesion (usually uncountable, plural cohesions)

cohesions (plural)
cohæsion (alternative archaic)

Attested from the late 17th century, borrowed from French cohésion, from Latin cohaesiō, cohaesiōnem.

(biology) Growing together of normally distinct parts of a plant.

yhteen kasvaminen

the growing together of normally distinct parts of a plant


composite

en-adj

composite (comparative more composite, superlative most composite)

more composite (comparative)
most composite (superlative)

Borrowed from Middle French composite, from Latin compositus, past participle of compōnō (“put together”). Doublet of compost, compote, and kompot.

(botany) Belonging to the Asteraceae family (formerly known as Compositae), bearing involucrate heads of many small florets.


composite

(botany) A plant belonging to the family Asteraceae, syn. Compositae.

mykerökukkainen

plant belonging to the family Compositae


emergent

emergent (comparative more emergent, superlative most emergent)

more emergent (comparative)
most emergent (superlative)

/ɪˈmɜːd͡ʒənt/

/ɪˈmɝd͡ʒənt/

From Latin ēmergēns, present participle of ēmergō. The medical sense is a back-formation from emergency.

(botany) Taller than the surrounding vegetation.

(botany, of a water-dwelling plant) Having leaves and flowers above the water.


emergent

/ɪˈmɜːd͡ʒənt/

/ɪˈmɝd͡ʒənt/

(botany) A plant whose root system grows underwater, but whose shoot, leaves and flowers grow up and above the water.


elongate

en-verb

elongate (third-person singular simple present elongates, present participle elongating, simple past and past participle elongated)

elongates (present singular third-person)
elongating (participle present)
elongated (participle past)
elongated (past)
elongate (infinitive)
elongate (first-person present singular)
elongated (first-person past singular)
elongate (present second-person singular)
elongatest (archaic present second-person singular)
elongated (past second-person singular)
elongatedst (archaic past second-person singular)
elongates (present singular third-person)
elongateth (archaic present singular third-person)
elongated (past singular third-person)
elongate (plural present)
elongated (past plural)
elongate (present subjunctive)
elongated (past subjunctive)
elongate (imperative present)
elongating (participle present)
elongated (participle past)

/ˈiːˌlɒŋɡeɪt/

/əˈlɔŋˌɡeɪt/

From Late Middle English elongat, elongate (“kept away; different or remote in nature”, adjective), borrowed from Late Latin ēlongātus (“having been stretched out, elongated; prolonged, protracted; having been kept aloof, removed”) + Middle English -at (suffix forming participles). Ēlongātus is the perfect passive participle of elongō (“to prolong, protract; to keep aloof, remove; to depart, withdraw”), from Latin ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + longus (“extended, long, prolonged; far”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”, adjective)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). Doublet of eloign.
Cognates
* French éloigner

der

Shepherd’s-purse Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik. […] FLOWERS White, blooming March–December; inflorescence of racemes, elongating greatly with fruit; […]

2009, Tom Reaume, “Mustard—Brassicaceae”, in 620 Wild Plants of North America—Fully Illustrated (Canadian Plains Studies; 57), Winnipeg, Man.: Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 216:

(botany) Of a plant part: to grow long; also, to have a long and slender or tapering form.

olla pitkulainen

of a plant part: to have a long and slender or tapering form


co-

From Latin co-, allomorph of Latin con-.

coglucosidase

coprotease

codehydrogenase


sclerotic

en-adj

sclerotic (comparative more sclerotic, superlative most sclerotic)

more sclerotic (comparative)
most sclerotic (superlative)

(mycology) Of or relating to sclerotium.


EDP

en-noun

EDP (countable and uncountable, plural EDPs)

(biochemistry) Initialism of elastin-derived peptide.


LNA

locked nucleic acid
locked nucleic acid#English

(genetics) Initialism of locked nucleic acid.


cortina

Borrowed from Late Latin cōrtīna (“curtain”). Doublet of curtain.

bor+

/Telamonia morphologically circumscribes a homogenous group of Cortinarii. Hygrophanous pilei, the lack of viscid or gelatinous veils and well-developed cortinas characterize most species.

2004, Ursula Peintner, Jean-Marc Moncalvo, Rytas Vilgalys, “Toward a better understanding of the infrageneric relationships in Cortinarius (Agaricales, Basidiomycota)”, in Mycologia, volume 96, number 5, →DOI, page 1054:

(mycology) A cobweb-like annulus on certain types of mushroom.


fate map

(biology) a diagram of an embryo of some organism showing the structures that will develop from each part


invasive

en-adj

invasive (comparative more invasive, superlative most invasive)

more invasive (comparative)
most invasive (superlative)

PIE word
 *h₁én
The adjective is derived from Middle English invasif (“of a weapon: offensive”), from Middle French invasif, Old French invasif (“invasive”) (modern French invasif), from Medieval Latin invāsīvus, from Latin invāsus (“entered; invaded”) + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives). Invāsus is the perfect passive participle of invādō (“to enter; to invade”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside’) + vādō (“to go; to rush; to walk”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- (“to go, proceed; to pass, traverse”)).
The noun is derived from the adjective.

der

an invasive species

(biology) Of an animal or plant: that grows (especially uncontrollably) in environments which do not harbour natural enemies, often to the detriment of native species or of food or garden flora and fauna.

غَازٍ

of an animal or plant: that grows (especially uncontrollably) in environments which do not harbour natural enemies


invasive

Is there ever a time to plant invasives—plants that are known to spread—in the garden? I believe the answer is a qualified "yes." There is never a time to plant exotic, that is non-native, invasives. Exotic invasives such as pampas grass and French and Scottish broom were sold by local nurseries in the past, before their destructive nature was understood. […] Native invasive plants are another story: there are situations in which they can be both practical and desirable.

2005, Barbara J. Euser, “A Place for Invasives?”, in Barbara J. Euser, editor, Bay Area Gardening: 64 Practical Essays by Master Gardeners, Palo Alto, Calif.: Solas House, Travelers’ Tales, →ISBN, page 174:

(biology) An invasive organism, such as an animal or plant.


speculum

(ornithology) A bright, lustrous patch of colour found on the wings of ducks and some other birds, usually situated on the distal portions of the secondary quills, and much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female.


merus

From Ancient Greek μηρός (mērós, “thigh”).

(zoology) The meropodite; the first segment of the raptorial appendage of a crustacean.


food web

food webs (plural)
foodweb (alternative)

[T]he dynamic nature of rivers that flow westward from the peninsular range of San Diego county has been altered by man. […] Human modifications tend to alter the habitat values, water quality, flow regimes, and most importantly the food web by changing the trophic structure.

1996 September, Adam W. Whelchel, “Coastal Natural Resources of Northern San Diego County”, in Tissa Munasinghe, Phil Rosenberg, editors, Geology and Natural Resources of Coastal San Diego County, California: Guidebook to Accompany the 1996 Annual Field Trip of the San Diego Association of Geologists (SDAG Annual Field Trip Guides), [San Diego, Calif.]: [San Diego Association of Geologists], →OCLC, page 95, column 2:

No species exists in a vacuum. Rather, each species is embedded within a network of predator-prey interactions in what Charles Darwin referred to as an “entangled bank” and is now known in the most general sense as a food web. In its most basic form, a food web reveals to us something about the feeding relationships in a system. More broadly, food webs represent a way of thinking about an ecological system that considers trophic (consumer-resource) interactions among species or groups of similar species (trophic guilds or trophic levels).

2006, M. Jake Vander Zander, Julian D. Olden, Claudio Gratton, “Food-web Approaches in Restoration Ecology”, in Donald A. Falk, Margaret A. Palmer, Joy B. Zedler, editors, Foundations of Restoration Ecology (Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration), Washington, D.C.: Island Press, →ISBN, page 165:

Food web structure can be closely tied to biodiversity, with certain structural attributes such as 'connectance' (the proportion of potential interactions between species that are actually realised) being generally related to the number of species in the food web[…]. Thus, agricultural management may affect food web structure indirectly by altering local biodiversity.

2012, William E. Snyder, Jason M. Tylianakis, “The Ecology of Biodiversity—Biocontrol Relationships”, in Geoff M. Gurr, Steve D. Wratten, and William E. Snyder, with Donna M. Y. Read, editors, Biodiversity and Insect Pests: Key Issues for Sustainable Management, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, →ISBN, page 36, column 1:

In plant-dominated ecosystems the composition of the belowground foodweb shifts to a bacterial pathway when the source of organic matter is more labile, and to a fungal-dominated foodweb when the organic matter is more complex and recalcitrant.

2012, Diana H. Wall, “Global Change in a Low Diversity Terrestrial Ecosystem: The McMurdo Dry Valleys”, in Alex D. Rogers, Nadine M. Johnston, Eugene J. Murphy, Andrew Clarke, editors, Antarctic Ecosystems: An Extreme Environment in a Changing World, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, →ISBN, page 53, column 1:

(ecology) A diagram showing the organisms that eat other organisms in a particular ecosystem, predators being higher in the web than their prey; the network of interrelations that the diagram models.


hypomethylation

(genetics) a decrease in the epigenetic methylation of cytosine and adenosine residues in DNA


hypermethylation

en-noun

hypermethylation (countable and uncountable, plural hypermethylations)

(genetics) an increase in the epigenetic methylation of cytosine and adenosine residues in DNA.


methylation

methylation (countable and uncountable, plural methylations)

/ˌmɛθɪˈleɪʃən/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-methylation.wav

(genetics) The addition of a methyl group to cytosine and adenine residues in DNA that leads to the epigenetic modification of DNA and the reduction of gene expression and protein production.


etiolated

en-adj

etiolated (comparative more etiolated, superlative most etiolated)

more etiolated (comparative)
most etiolated (superlative)
aetiolated (alternative)

From etiolate + -ed (suffix forming adjectives); modelled after French étiolé, the past participle of étioler (“to become pale and weak, etiolate”), from Norman étieuler (“to become plant stalks left over after harvesting to be used as fodder or for thatching”), probably from éteule (“plant stalks left over after harvesting, stubble”) + -er (suffix forming verbs). Éteule is derived from Old French esteule (“straw”), from Latin stipula (“plant stalk; plant stalk left over after harvesting, stubble; straw”), from Proto-Italic *stipelā, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steyp- (“to be stiff; erect”).

der

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-etiolated.wav

[T]he external leaves which enjoy the light are perfectly green, while those within, naturally or artificially covered up and involved in darkness, are blanched or etiolated; they are thereby rendered white, soft, delicate, and tender, and lose the taste and flavour of the native plant in its green state, or retain these very slightly.

1806 August 11, “Extracts from Fourcroy on the Philosophy of Vegetation, Translated and Abridged by a Correspondent”, in The Farmer’s Magazine: A Periodical Work Exclusively Devoted to Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, volume VII, number XXVII, Edinburgh: […] D. Willison, […], for Arch[ibald] Constable & Co. […], →OCLC, part IV (of the Influence of Light on Vegetation), paragraph 4, pages 302–303:

If there is too great an accumulation of oxygen, as when a plant is kept in a dark place, then it will grow towards the nearest ray of light, which if it does not reach, it will remain white, or etiolated, and sickly.

1835, J[ohn] L[ee] Comstock, “The Leaf. (Folium.)”, in An Introduction to the Study of Botany; […], 3rd edition, New York, N.Y.: Robinson, Pratt, & Co. […], →OCLC, page 43:

They had been so long accustomed to nestle in their old dwellings sheltered in the narrow closes, "Piled deep and massy, close and high," that they seemed to regard the exposure to open streets and broad thoroughfares pretty much as some etiolated hot-house exotic might be supposed to reflect on its being turned out to the open garden.

[1853], “First Buildings of the New Town”, in Modern Edinburgh, London: The Religious Tract Society, →OCLC, page 54:

In a report of 1901, the "triple response" of etiolated pea seedlings (growth inhibition, thickening of the subapical region, horizontal nutation) was observed to occur in the presence of illuminating gas and ethylene was identified as the inducing agent.

1985, Klaus Lurssen, “Plant Responses to Ethylene and Ethylene Releasing Compounds”, in S. S. Purohit, editor, Hormonal Regulation of Plant Growth and Development (Advances in Agricultural Biotechnology), volume 2, Dordrecht, Berlin: Martinus Nijhoff/Dr W. Junk Publishers, →ISBN, page 307:

Seedlings are elongated and have closed cotyledons in the dark (aetiolated) while the hypocotyls are short and the cotyledons are open in the light (de-aetiolated).

2007, László Bögre, “Cell Signalling Mechanisms in Plants”, in Keith Roberts, editor, Handbook of Plant Science, volume 1, Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, pages 417–418:

Any visitor to New York over the past few years will have witnessed this curious new breed of pencil-thin tower. Poking up above the Manhattan skyline like etiolated beanpoles, they seem to defy the laws of both gravity and commercial sense. They stand like naked elevator shafts awaiting their floors, raw extrusions of capital piled up until it hits the clouds.

2019 June 1, Oliver Wainwright, “Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the ‘pencil towers’ of New York’s super-rich”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-10-05:

(chiefly botany, horticulture) Of a plant or part of a plant: pale and weak because of sunlight deprivation or excessive exposure to sunlight.

etiola

of a plant or part of a plant: pale and weak because of sunlight deprivation or excessive exposure to sunlight


Giemsa

(genetics) A complex of stains used to investigate chromosomes; a mixture of eosin and methylene blue in glycerol and methanol.


exogamy

en-noun

exogamy (countable and uncountable, plural exogamies)

From exo- + -gamy. Coined by British lawyer and ethnologist John Ferguson McLennan in his Studies in Ancient History, page 25.

coinage

(biology) the fusion of two unrelated gametes


cisterna

From Latin cisterna. Doublet of cistern.

endoplasmic reticulum
endoplasmic reticulum

(biology) Any of the various membranes sections comprising some organelles like the Golgi apparatus and the endoplasmic reticulum.


Samoyed

From Russian самое́д (samojéd), probably from Sami *saam-edne (“land of the people”); compare Finnish Suomi (“Finn”). In the course of borrowing, the word was folk-etymologically reinterpreted as сам (sam, “self, own”) + есть, ед- (jestʹ, jed-, “eat”), "self-eater."

(endearing nicknames)

(zoology) A hardy breed of dog from Siberia.


murus

(palynology) A pattern-forming ridge on the surface of a pollen grain.


sister chromatid

en-noun

sister chromatid (plural sister chromatids)

(genetics) Either of the two chromatids of a replicated chromosome.


somatic cell

(cytology) Any normal cell of an organism that is not involved in reproduction; a cell that is not on the germline.

somatická buňka

any normal cell of an organism that is not involved in reproduction


merlin

Acronym of moesin-Ezrin-Radixin-like protein + -in (“protein”)

suffix

<i class="Latn mention" lang="en">protein</i>

(biochemistry) A cytoskeletal protein active in the suppression of tumors.


chromatid

/ˈkɹəʊmətɪd/

From Ancient Greek χρῶμα (khrôma, “color”) + -id.

af

(genetics) After DNA replication, either of the two connected double-helix strands of a metaphase chromosome that separate during mitosis.


genetic code

(genetics) The set of rules by which the sequence of bases in DNA are translated into the amino acid sequence of proteins.


histogenesis

en-noun

histogenesis (countable and uncountable, plural histogeneses)

(biology) the formation and development of the tissues of an organism from embryonic cells


chiasma

chiasmas (plural)
chiasmata (plural)
chiasm (alternative)

Modern Latin, from Ancient Greek χίασμα (khíasma), from χιάζω (khiázō, “to mark with the letter chi, χ”).

(genetics, cytology) The contact point between the two chromatids of a chromosome during meiosis.

kiazma

the contact point between the two chromatids of a chromosome during meiosis


ligneous

en-adj

ligneous (comparative more ligneous, superlative most ligneous)

more ligneous (comparative)
most ligneous (superlative)
lignous (alternative)

From Latin ligneus; compare Latin lignōsus; equivalent to lign- + -eous.


liliaceous

liliaceous (comparative more liliaceous, superlative most liliaceous)

more liliaceous (comparative)
most liliaceous (superlative)

(botany) of the Liliaceae family, which contains the lily, and tulip, but which formerly contained a great number of plants now in other families.


polyp

From Latin polypus (“a polyp, a polypus in the nose”), from Ancient Greek πολύπους (polúpous, from πολύς (polús, “many”) + πούς (poús, “foot”)). Doublet of polypus.

der

(zoology) A cylindrical coelenterate, such as the hydra, having a mouth surrounded with tentacles.

The sessile life stage of many cnidarians, whose free-swimming stage, if present, is the medusa.


polygamous

/pəˈlɪɡəməs/


imago

en-noun

imago (plural imagines or imagos or imagoes)

imagines (plural)
imagos (plural)
imagoes (plural)

‘But still,’ he said to himself, drawing the metamorphoses of a red admiral, egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and imago on his pad, ‘what shall I say to him when we meet?’

(entomology) The final developmental stage of an insect after undergoing metamorphosis.


tropin

(biology) any of the tropic hormones; one that is secreted by an endocrine gland and targets another such gland


tropic hormone

(biochemistry) A hormone that regulates the activity of the endocrine glands


nectar

nectar (countable and uncountable, plural nectars)

From Latin nectar, from Ancient Greek νέκταρ (néktar, “nourishment of the gods”), from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- (“perish, disappear”) + *-tr̥h₂ (“overcoming”), from *terh₂- (“to overcome, pass through, cross over”).

der

(botany) The sweet liquid secreted by flowers to attract pollinating insects and birds.


biopoesis

From bio- + -poesis, alternative form of -poiesis.

(biochemistry, biology) The formation of life from self-replicating, but not living, molecules.


bioluminescence

en-noun

bioluminescence (countable and uncountable, plural bioluminescences)

(biology, biochemistry) The emission of light by a living organism (such as a firefly).


juvenile

Borrowed from Latin iuvenīlis (“youthful; juvenile”), from iuvenis (“young; a youth”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a relationship or a pertaining to). Iuvenis is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuh₁en- (“young”), from *h₂óyu (“long life; lifetime”) (from *h₂ey- (“age; life”)) + *h₁én (“in”).

Even if juveniles acquire sex-specific adult-like foraging skills before reaching adult size, their smaller body size may put them at a foraging disadvantage. […] The size effect on foraging is reduced in species that use small or easily manipulated substrates. For instance, in Costa Rican squirrel monkeys, juveniles apparently mastered techniques for insect foraging only a few months after weaning, when they were still much smaller than adults[…].

2002, Charles H. Janson, Carel P[hilippus] Van Schaik, “Ecological Risk Aversion in Juvenile Primates: Slow and Steady Wins the Race”, in Michael E. Pereira, Lynn A. Fairbanks, editors, Juvenile Primates: Life History, Development, and Behavior, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 65, column 1:


wagtail

From a partial suppletion of Middle English wagstert (literally “wag-tail”), equivalent to wag + tail.

field wagtail

Motacilla flava and M. tschutschensis, syn. Budytes spp.

white-browed wagtail (Motacilla maderaspatensis


survivorship

en-noun

survivorship (usually uncountable, plural survivorships)

(biology) The number or percentage of young that survive to adulthood.


tropic

en-adj

tropic (comparative more tropic, superlative most tropic)

more tropic (comparative)
most tropic (superlative)
trop. (alternative abbreviation)
tropick (alternative obsolete)
Tropic (alternative)

From Late Latin tropicus (“of or pertaining to the solstice, as a noun, one of the tropics”), from Ancient Greek τροπικός (tropikós, “of or pertaining to a turn or change; or the solstice; or a trope or figure; tropic; tropical; etc.”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “turn; solstice; trope”).

der

The binding of oxygen to hemoglobin is allosterically regulated by various tropic factors, such as BPG and acidity.

(biochemistry, not comparable) Having the quality of indirectly inducing a biological or chemical change in a system or substrate.


deep-rooted

He observed the leaves of trees there abouts more deeply green then else∣where, the Oakes broad-spreading, but not deep-rooted;

1662, Thomas Fuller, The History of the Worthies of England, London: Thomas Williams, page 186:

1726, Jonathan Swift (translator), “Horace, Book I, Ode XIV” in Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, London: T. Woodward and Charles Davis, 1736, Volume 5, p. 193,
Poor floating Isle, tost on ill Fortune’s Waves,
Ordain’d by Fate to be the Land of Slaves;
Shall moving Delos now deep-rooted stand,
Thou, fixt of old, be now the moving Land?

1791, William Cowper (translator), The Odyssey, Book 13, in The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, London: J. Johnson, Volume 2, p. 302,
And now the flying bark full near approach’d,
When Neptune, meeting her, with out-spread palm
Depress’d her at a stroke, and she became
Deep-rooted stone.

[His love was] as impossible to restore to growth as a deep-rooted plant torn from its bed.

1905, Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, New York: Scribner, Book 2, Chapter 13, p. 517:

(literally, botany) Of a plant, having deep roots; (of a non-living object) deeply and firmly embedded (in the ground, etc.).


chemoautotroph

From chemo- + autotroph, the latter from auto- (from Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-, “self-”)) + -troph (from Ancient Greek τροφή (trophḗ, “nourishment”)).

confix

from Ancient Greek <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">αὐτο-</i> (auto-, “self-”)

from Ancient Greek <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">τροφή</i> (trophḗ, “nourishment”)

(biology) a simple microorganism, such as a prokaryote (bacteria and Archaea), that derives its energy from chemical processes rather than photosynthesis


chemokine

(biochemistry, immunology) Any of various chemotactic cytokines, produced during inflammation, that organize the leukocytes.


cytokine

From cyto- + Ancient Greek κίνησις (kínēsis, “movement”).

der

Thus, in the case of viral infection, mechanisms of resistance would be threefold, namely, interferon production, the immune response, including both antibody and lymphokine production, and the generation of lymphokine-like substances by the infected cells themselves. These latter substances have been defined as cytokines.

1975 July 7, Bigazzi PE, Yoshida T, Ward PA, Cohen S., “Production of Lymphokine-Like Factors (Cytokines) by Simian Virus 40-Infected and Simian Virus 40-Transformed Cell”, in The American Journal of Pathology, volume 80, number 1, page 69:

A fundamental feature expressed by the vast majority of cytokines is a profound immunomodulatory activity.
Many cytokines, presently available in pure recombinant form, modify bone cell metabolism.

1991, Maxine Gowen, Cytokines and Bone Metabolism, page 26:

The cytokines are generally considered to be a group of peptides secreted by cells of the immune system such as macrophages, lymphocytes and T cells, although the same peptides may also be secreted by non-immune cells such as neurological tissues and adipocytes.

2012, Victor R. Preedy, Ross Hunter, editors, Preface: Cytokines, page v:

The cytokines provide a classic example of products of the immune system which alter brain and endocrine activities. A variety of cytokines, including interleukin 1, interleukin 2, interleukin 6, and tumor necrosis factor α, have been traditionally associated with peripheral control of the immune system, inflammation, and acute phase response.

2013, Errol B. De Souza, editor, Preface: Neurobiology of Cytokines: Methods in Neurosciences, volume 16, page xiii:

Surprisingly, mTOR inhibitors displayed little inhibitory efficacy regarding receptor modulation and cytokine production which may be clinically relevant in terms of the risk of underimmunosuppression with this class of drugs.

2015 July 6, “NK Cells of Kidney Transplant Recipients Display an Activated Phenotype that Is Influenced by Immunosuppression and Pathological Staging”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

(biochemistry, immunology) Any of various small regulatory proteins that regulate the cells of the immune system.

細胞因子 /细胞因子

any of various small regulatory proteins


chemosystematics

(biochemistry) chemotaxonomy; the classification of organisms based on their biochemistry


chemotaxonomy

en-noun

chemotaxonomy (usually uncountable, plural chemotaxonomies)

(biochemistry, genetics) The classification or taxonomy of organisms based on differences and similarities in biochemistry, especially on differences in amino acid sequence in proteins that the organisms have in common.


chemotropism

chemotropism (countable and uncountable, plural chemotropisms)

(biology) The movement or growth of an organism in response to a chemical stimulus


chemotropic

en-adj

chemotropic (comparative more chemotropic, superlative most chemotropic)

more chemotropic (comparative)
most chemotropic (superlative)
chemotrophic (alternative)

(biology) of, related to, or in response to chemotropism


agrarian

agrarian (comparative more agrarian, superlative most agrarian)

more agrarian (comparative)
most agrarian (superlative)

/əˈɡɹɛ(ə)ɹi.ən/

From Middle French agrarien, from Latin agrarius (“of the land”), from stem of ager (“field”) + -arius.

(botany) Wild; said of plants growing in a cultivated field.


antipathetic

antipathetic (comparative more antipathetic, superlative most antipathetic)

more antipathetic (comparative)
most antipathetic (superlative)

/ˌæntɪpəˈθɛtɪk/


dopaminergic

(biochemistry) Any substance that affects the production of dopamine


tetraploid

From Ancient Greek τετραπλός (tetraplós) + Ancient Greek είδος (eídos), equivalent to tetra- + -ploid.

In potato, crosses between the tetraploid cultivated species Solanum tuberosum, and some clones of the diploid wild-type species S. phureja, constitute a method of producing maternal dihaploids.

1998, C. Horlow, C. Raquin, “A Critical Analysis of Existing Haploidization Techniques”, in Y[ves] Chupeau, M[ichel] Caboche, Y[ves] Henry, editors, Androgenesis and Haploid Plants: […] In Memory of Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, page 14:

(genetics) Having four sets of chromosomes.


apple of Sodom

apple + of + Sodom; compare the common assumption that the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden was an apple. Possibly also imitative of Hebrew תַּפּוּחַ (tapuah, “apple”) + סְדוֹם (Sdom, “Sodom”).

Calotropis procera
Calotropis procera#Translingual

(botany) Any of various plants, often bearing bitter or poisonous fruit.

A mudar (Calotropis procera), a flowering plant, found from northern Africa to southeast Asia, which bears poisonous fruit.

Citrullus colocynthis
Citrullus colocynthis#Translingual

A bitter apple, colocynth, etc. (Citrullus colocynthis), a desert plant native to Asia and the Mediterranean Basin with extremely bitter flesh.

Any of certain species of plants of the genus Solanum (nightshades).

A forest bitterberry (Solanum anguivi), a plant native to non-arid parts of Africa.

A Carolina horsenettle (Solanum carolinense), a plant native to North America.

A bitter apple, bitterball, or bitter tomato (Solanum incanum), a plant native to sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and India.

A black spine nightshade or devil's apple (Solanum linnaeanum), a plant native to southern Africa that bears poisonous berries.

A nipplefruit (Solanum mammosum), a plant native to South America.

A particularly dangerous plant, and one that may cause confusion, is the apple of Sodom, a low, prickly bush with a tomatolike fruit that is highly poisonous.

1997, Richard McMahon, “The Outdoor Environment and the Camper”, in Camping Hawai‛i: A Complete Guide, rev. edition, Honolulu, Hi.: University of Hawai‛i Press, →ISBN, page 14:


bearded

From Middle English berded, from Old English ġebearded, ġebeardede, ġebierd, ġebierde (“bearded”), from Proto-Germanic *bardōdaz (“bearded”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂tos (“bearded”), equivalent to beard + -ed. Cognate with Dutch bebaarde (“bearded”), Middle Low German bārt (“bearded”), archaic German gebartet (“bearded”).

The herbaceous perennial irises benefit from at least one feeding a year in early spring as growth begins. Siberian and Japanese irises appreciate a second feeding just as the flowers fade. Beardeds do best with a second feeding in late summer.

2017, Barbara W. Ellis, “Iris: Irises”, in Taylor's Guide to Growing North America's Favorite Plants: Proven Perennials, Annuals, Flowering Trees, Shrubs, & Vines for Every Garden, New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 181:

(informal, botany, horticulture) A bearded iris.


preoccupied

preoccupied (comparative more preoccupied, superlative most preoccupied)

more preoccupied (comparative)
most preoccupied (superlative)

In 1924 J. D. Tothill revised the nearctic species in the genus Fabriciella, a name proposed by Bezzi in 1906 to replace Fabricia Rob. D. which is preoccupied.

1931, John Allen Rowe, “A revision of the males of the nearctic species in the genus Fabriciella (Tachinidae)”, in Annals of the Entomological Society of America, volume 24:

(taxonomy, not comparable) Describing a taxonomic name not available for use because it is already used for another.


GBS

Coordinate term: GAS

group B streptococcus
w:group B streptococcus

(bacteriology) Initialism of group B streptococcus.


genetic drift

en-noun

genetic drift (countable and uncountable, plural genetic drifts)

(genetics, evolutionary theory) An overall shift of allele distribution in an isolated population, due to random fluctuations in the frequencies of individual alleles of the genes.


generalist

(ecology) Species which can thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions. A eurytopic species.


inhibition

inhibition (countable and uncountable, plural inhibitions)

/ɪnhɪˈbɪʃən/

From Middle English inhibicioun, inhibicione from Old French inibicion, from Latin inhibitio.
Morphologically inhibit + -ion.

(chemistry, biochemistry) The process of stopping or retarding a reaction.

инхибиране

Stopping or retarding a chemical reaction


irreducible complexity

Coined by Michael Behe in his 1996 book Darwin's Black Box.

(biology, pseudoscience) The proposition that complex organs such as eyes and flagella must have started existing in their current form; i.e., that they cannot have evolved from previous, less complex stages.

Darwin's Black Box
Michael Behe
irreducible complexity


unilamellar

(biology) Having a single layer or lamella.


urceolate

en-adj

urceolate (comparative more urceolate, superlative most urceolate)

more urceolate (comparative)
most urceolate (superlative)

From the Latin urceolatus, from urceolus, diminutive of urceus.

an urceolate corolla


mora

From New Latin from a botanical name, perhaps from Tupi.

At length, somewhere about the centre of the wood, she led me to an immense mora tree, growing almost isolated, covering with its shade a large space of ground entirely free from undergrowth.

1904, W.H. Hudson, Green Mansions, A Romance of the Tropical Forest:

(botany) Any tree of the genus Mora of large South American trees.


barbel

barbels (plural)
barble (alternative obsolete)

PIE word
 *bʰardʰéh₂
From Middle English barbel, from Old French barbel, from Vulgar Latin *barbellus, from Late Latin barbulus, diminutive of Latin barbus.

(biology) Whisker-like sensory organs, located around the mouth of certain fish, including catfish, carp, goatfish, sturgeon, and some types of shark.

barbo

whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish


cohabitation

en-noun

cohabitation (countable and uncountable, plural cohabitations)

From Middle English cohabitacioun, from Old French cohabitacion and Late Latin cohabitātiō. By surface analysis, co- + habitation.

(biology) The act of two species living together in the same habitat.


octoploid

(genetics) having eight complete sets of chromosomes in a single cell


octoploid

octoploids (plural)
octaploid (alternative)

(biology) a cell that has eight complete sets of chromosomes

(biology) an organism whose cells have eight complete sets of chromosomes


wood grouse

wood grouse (plural wood grouses or wood grouse)

wood grouses (plural)
wood grouse (plural)

Tetrao urogallus
Tetrao urogallus#Translingual

(ornithology) The capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus.


polyploid

(genetics) Having more than the usual number of complete sets of chromosomes in a single cell.

polyploid

having more than the usual number of complete sets of chromosomes


polyploidy

polyploidy (countable and uncountable, plural polyploidies)

From polyploid + -y, after German Polyploidie.

As they mature, the DNA is replicated several times but the cell does not divide, a condition known as polyploidy which allows cells to increase in size.

2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 90:

This propensity to polyploidy helps account for the diversity (and thus success) of flowering plants, in particular. It is also known that flowering plants sailed majestically through the life-destroying asteroid impact at the end of the Cretaceous period, which did for the dinosaurs and many other animals.

2014 June 28, “Double or quits”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8893:

(uncountable, genetics) The condition of being polyploid or the process of becoming polyploid.

(countable, genetics) An instance of being polyploid.


stele

From 1886 French stèle, from Ancient Greek στήλη (stḗlē, “upright rock; pillar; column”).

der

The stele may have—in different structures—one to many protoxylem (primitive wood) groups, and is accordingly described as monarch...diarch...triarch...tetrarch...polyarch.

1895, Sydney Howard Vines, A Students' Text-book of Botany, section 179:

The so-called central cylinder, for which Van Tieghem has proposed the name stele (column).

1898, Eduard Strasburger et al., translated by Hobart Charles Porter, A Text-book of Botany, section 109:

(botany) The central core of a plant's root and stem system, especially including the vascular tissue and developed from the plerome.

varsi

(botany) central core of the root and shoot system


œstrogen

(biochemistry, steroids) Alternative spelling of estrogen.


estrogen

en-noun

estrogen (countable and uncountable, plural estrogens)

estrogens (plural)
oestrogen (alternative UK)
œstrogen (alternative UK)

/ˈɛstɹəd͡ʒən/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-estrogen.wav

/ˈiːstɹəd͡ʒən/

From estro- (estrus) + -gen (“a producer of”).

af

<i class="Latn mention" lang="en">estrus</i>

secondly, in many hormone-target organ interactions including the effect of estrogen on rat uterus, growth hormone and hydrocortisone on rat liver and thyroid hormone on toadpole liver, newly formed microsomes have been isolated which have increased protein synthesizing ability (Tata, 1968).

1970, Harvey W. Mohrenweiser, Role of Hormones in Controlling Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis During Lactogenesis, Michigan State University. Departments of Biochemistry and Dairy, page 36:

It is known as Hatschek's pit and has been found to react positively to antibodies against substance P, met-enkephalin, cholecystokinin (CCK), mammalian luteinizing hormone (LH), and the enzyme aromatase (P450ₐᵣₒ), which converts certain androgens into estrogens (see Chapter 3).

2013, David O. Norris, Vertebrate Endocrinology, page 151:

Amies Oelschlager said in a statement that oral contraceptives that contain estrogen may cause side effects such as headaches, nausea, and breast tenderness.

2023 July 21, Amanda Musa, “The FDA approved the US’ first over-the-counter birth control pill. What happens next?”, in CNN:

(biochemistry, steroids) Any of a group of steroids that are secreted by the ovaries and function as female sex hormones.


distended

en-adj

distended (comparative more distended, superlative most distended)

more distended (comparative)
most distended (superlative)


humic acid

(organic chemistry, biochemistry) a complex mixture of organic acids produced by the decomposition of vegetable matter.


visitation

en-noun

visitation (countable and uncountable, plural visitations)

/ˌvɪzɪˈteɪʃən/

From Anglo-Norman visitacioun, from Old French visitacion, from Latin vīsitātiō. By surface analysis, visit + -ation.

(ecology) An unusual and extensive irruption of a species of animals into another region.


insertion

insertion (countable and uncountable, plural insertions)

(genetics) The addition of a nucleotide to a chromosome by mutation.


isomorphic

The fact that different structures can be shown to be functionally isomorphic implies that they are analogous, not homologous.

1993, Marcus Jacobson, Foundations of Neuroscience, page 106:

(biology) Having a similar structure or function to something that is not related genetically or through evolution.

isomòrfic

(biology) having a similar structure or function without genetic relation


prolepsis

prolepsis (countable and uncountable, plural prolepses)

From Latin prolepsis, from Ancient Greek πρόληψις (prólēpsis, “preconception, anticipation”), from προλαμβάνω (prolambánō, “take beforehand, anticipate”).

der

(botany) Growth in which lateral branches develop from a lateral meristem, after the formation of a bud or following a period of dormancy, when the lateral meristem is split from a terminal meristem.


formative

en-adj

formative (comparative more formative, superlative most formative)

more formative (comparative)
most formative (superlative)

From Middle English formatyve, formatif (“having the ability to form”), from Old French formatif, formative (modern French formatif), from Medieval Latin formātīvus, from Latin fōrmātus + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘doing’ or ‘related to doing’). Fōrmātus is the perfect passive participle of fōrmō (“to form, to shape”), from fōrma (“a form, shape”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “a form, shape”) (see further at that entry). By surface analysis, form + -ative.

cog

(biology) Capable of producing new tissue.

Capable of forming something.
Capable of producing new tissue.


mangrove

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-mangrove.wav

A modification of earlier mangrowe (obsolete) by the influence of grove (“small forest”) through folk etymology. Mangrowe is probably borrowed from Spanish mangle, mangue (whence English mangle) (probably from an Arawakan language (such as Taíno), or a Cariban language) + an unknown word ending.

black mangrove)

Avicennia germinans; Aegiceras corniculatum, Bruguiera gymnorhiza

freshwater mangrove

Barringtonia, Carallia brachiata (Australia)

red mangrove

Rhizophora stylosa; Rhizophora mucronata, Heritiera littoralis (Australia)

rope mangrove

Hibiscus tiliaceus or Laguncularia racemosa

There has been some investigation into the potential of seaweeds as a carbon store, and although more is needed, one study says that seaweed habitats are believed to be the most productive of all coastal vegetated ecosystems, and suggested that the world's seaweed sequesters as much carbon as all the planet’s seagrass meadows, saltmarshes and mangroves combined.

2023 September 27, Vincent Doumeizel, “Opinion: Seaweed is Nutritious, Not Slimy. Eating It could Save the World.”, in CNN, archived from the original on 2025-05-13:

(ecology, also attributive) Synonym of mangal (“a tropical and subtropical coastal intertidal swampland ecosystem characterized by mangroves (sense 1) or similar shrubs and trees”).


bourse

Borrowed from French bourse, from Old French borse, from Latin bursa, from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa). Doublet of purse, compare Danish børs, Swedish börs, German Börse. See also bursar.

(botany) The swollen basal part of an inflorescence axis at the onset of fruit development; it bears leaves whose axillary buds differentiate and may grow out as shoots.


service tree

Properly, the tree that bears sorb fruit, from Middle English serves, plural of serve (“sorb apple, serviceberry”), from Old English syrfe, from Vulgar Latin *sorbea, from Latin sorbus (“service tree”). See sorb.

Wild cherry and rowan, as well as wild apple, wild pear, wild service tree, whitebeam, and true service tree, are all affected by being nibbled by voles, mice and other wild animals.

2000, F. W. M. Vera, Grazing Ecology and Forest History, page 341:

In England, the wild service tree (sorbus torminalis) is regarded as an indicator of ancient woodland although there is little written about it in books on the subject.

2002, Mélusine Draco, Paul Harriss, Root & Branch: British Magical Tree Lore, page 102:

The wild service tree is very local in our study area.[…]At the time when these wild service trees had ripe fruit the much more abundant hawthorns, as well as a number of other plants, were providing alternative sources of fruit, which were probably safer to exploit than the service tree’s fruit 3—15 m up on terminal twigs of the leafless branches.

2010, Barbara Snow, David Snow, Birds and Berries, page 54:

Sorbus domestica
Sorbus domestica#Translingual

Sorbus torminalis
Sorbus torminalis#Translingual

(botany) Either of two rare Old World deciduous trees, Sorbus domestica or Sorbus torminalis.


thunderbolt

(paleontology) A belemnite, or thunderstone.


clanger

From clang (“loud ringing sound”) + -er.

(Australia, entomology) A cicada, Psaltoda claripennis, of New South Wales and Queensland, having an upper body of green and brown and clear wings with green veins.


tetrad

From Ancient Greek τετράς (tetrás), analysable as tetra- + -ad.

(biology) Two pairs of sister chromatids (a dyad pair) aligned in a certain way and often on the equatorial plane during the meiosis process.

(biology) A group of four haploid and immature pollen grains in tetrahedral fashion produced by meiotic microsporogenesis.


metazoan

monisoluinen eläin

(zoology) animals with differentiated tissues

(zoology) Any animal that is multicellular.

(zoology, obsolete) Any animal that undergoes development from an embryo stage with two or three tissue layers, namely the ectoderm, endoderm, and sometimes mesoderm.


ectoderm

(biology) The outermost of the three tissue layers in the embryo of a metazoan animal, which produces through development, the epidermis (skin) and nervous system of the adult.


endoderm

(anatomy, biology) One of the three tissue layers in the embryo of a metazoan animal, which will produce through development, the digestive system of the adult.


protozoan

en-noun

protozoan (plural protozoa or protozoans)

/ˌpɹəʊ.təˈzəʊ.ən/

From translingual Protozoa + -an, equivalent to proto- + -zoan.

(cytology) Any of the diverse group of eukaryotes, of the phylum Protozoa, that are primarily unicellular, existing singly or aggregating into colonies, are usually nonphotosynthetic, and are often classified further into phyla according to their capacity for and means of motility, as by pseudopods, flagella, or cilia.

animalcule

both formerly construed as hypernymous, but not in current taxonomy


coelenterate

(zoology, dated) Any simple aquatic animal formerly considered to belong to the phylum Coelenterata, now divided into the cnidarians and ctenophores.

腔腸動物 /腔肠动物

member of the former phylum Coelenterata


deltoid

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From Latin deltoideus, which was in turn from Ancient Greek adjective δελτοειδής (deltoeidḗs). See also: δέλτα (délta), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.

In the shape of the uppercase Greek letter delta (Δ); triangular.

(botany, of leaves) Of a triangular or roughly triangular shape and attached to the stem via the side.


fission

fission (countable and uncountable, plural fissions)

Borrowed from Latin fissiōnem, accusative singular of fissiō (“the act of breaking up”), from findō (“split, divide”).

(biology) The process by which a bacterium splits to form two daughter cells.

انقسام

process by which a bacterium splits into two


lamina

lamina (plural laminae or (archaic) laminæ or laminas)

laminae (plural)
laminæ (archaic plural)
laminas (plural)

Borrowed from Latin lāmina (“a thin piece of metal, wood, marble; a plate, leaf, layer”). Doublet of lame.

bor

A thin layer, plate, or scale of material.

(botany) The flat expanded part of a foliage leaf or leaflet.

(zootomy) One of the narrow thin parallel plates of soft vascular sensitive tissue that cover the flesh within the wall of a hoof.


capnophile

(ecology) A microorganism that requires or grows best in presence of high concentrations of carbon dioxide.


plasmolysis

en-noun

plasmolysis (countable and uncountable, plural plasmolyses)

(biology) the shrinking of protoplasm away from the cell wall of a plant or bacterium due to water loss.


podex

Ligament which stretches over the surface of the uterus, running obliquely from the podex to the raceme.

1942, Fabricius (ab Aquapendente), Howard Bernhardt Adelmann (translator), The Embryological Treatises of Hieronymus Fabricius of Aquapendente (page 229)

(zoology, rare) The rear end of any animal.


herborize

en-verb

herborize (third-person singular simple present herborizes, present participle herborizing, simple past and past participle herborized)

herborizes (present singular third-person)
herborizing (participle present)
herborized (participle past)
herborized (past)
herbarize (alternative)
herborise (alternative)
herbarise (alternative)

(intransitive, botany) To seek and classify new or previously known plant species.


alpha male

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The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

Originally used in scientific research of hierarchies in social animals, the term is now often applied to men with dominating characteristics. Already in some use during the 1990s, it was further popularized by Neil Strauss in The Game (2005).

(zoology, ethology) The dominant male in a group of animals.


herbaceous

en-adj

herbaceous (comparative more herbaceous, superlative most herbaceous)

more herbaceous (comparative)
most herbaceous (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin herbāceus (“grassy”).

[…] and it contains a very good selection of shrubs and herbaceous plants, which, having good soil and plentiful drenchings of water from a garden-engine all the summer, thrive to admiration.

1859, Shirley Hibberd, The Town Garden, page 53:

(botany) Not woody, lacking lignified tissues.


introduced

introduced species

The prickly pear cactus is an introduced species in Australia.

(biology) Not native to a location; brought from another place.


hydro-

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From Ancient Greek ὑδρο- (hudro-), from ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”).


pleural

(zoology) An internal segment of the turtle carapace.


polyandrous

(botany) Belonging to the class Polyandria; having many stamens inserted in the receptacle.


food poisoning

en-noun

food poisoning (usually uncountable, plural food poisonings)

(pathology, bacteriology) Any food-borne disease, such as salmonella, that typically causes diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, fever and abdominal cramps.


hybrid disgenesis

(genetics) a phenomenon in which high transposon mobility causes reduced fertility in hybrid progeny


Ionian

* (Hellenic, Ionia, architecture): Ionia + -n
* (moon of Jupiter): Io + -n- + -ian

(geology, paleontology) A subdivision of the Pleistocene epoch.


coelom

coeloms (plural)
celom (alternative)
coeloma (alternative)
coelome (alternative)
cœlom (alternative dated)
cœloma (alternative dated)
cœlome (alternative dated)

From international scientific vocabulary, from New Latin, from Ancient Greek κοίλωμα (koílōma, “hollow, cavity”). Cognate with coeliac.

uder

digestive system
digestive system#English

(zoology) A fluid-filled cavity within the body of an animal. The digestive system is suspended within the cavity, which is lined by a tissue called the peritoneum.


coelomate

coelomates (plural)
cœlomate (alternative)

From the substantivation of the adjective, equivalent to coelom + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

(zoology) Any animal possessing a fluid-filled cavity within which the digestive system is suspended.


coelomate

From coelom + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).


cœlomate

(zoology) A group of animals possessing a fluid-filled cavity within which the digestive system is suspended.


apple tree

apple trees (plural)
appletree (alternative)
apple-tree (alternative)

From Middle English appeltre, appiltre, appultre, from Old English æppeltrēow, corresponding to apple + tree. Cognate with Danish æbletræ, Swedish äppelträd, Norwegian epletre, Icelandic eplatré.

Malus domestica
Malus domestica#Translingual

(botany) Any tree that bears apples, principally Malus domestica but also certain wild species.


acnestis

From Late Latin acnestis, from Koine Greek ἄκνηστις (áknēstis, “spine”), from κνῆστις (knêstis, “spine, cheese-grater”), or from ἀ- (a-) + -κναίειν (-knaíein, “grate, scrape, scratch”) (only attested in compounds), or from incorrect segmentation of κατὰ κνῆστιν (katà knêstin, “on the spine”) (see Homer, Odyssey 10.161), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kneh₂-.

der

Acneſtis, from α priv. and κναειν to ſcratch. That part of the ſpine of the back, which reaches from the metaphrenon, which is the part betwixt the ſhoulder blades, to the loins. This part ſeems to have been originally called ſo in quadrupeds only, becauſe they cannot reach it to ſcratch.

1794, John Quincy, Lexicon Physico-medicum: Or, a New Medicinal Dictionary. Explaining the Difficult Terms Used in the Several Branches of the Profession. And in such Parts of Natural Philosophy, as are Introductory thereto. With an Account of the Things Signified by such Terms. Collected from the most Eminent Authors, 11th edition, London: Printed for T[homas] Longman, in Pater-noster Row, →OCLC, pages 16–17:

ACNÉSTIS (ακνηςις, from α neg. and κναω to ſcratch). That part of the ſpine between the ſhoulder-blades, and which extends to the loins. It is ſo called from the difficulty there is to reach and ſcratch it.

1802, W[illiam] Turton, A Medical Glossary: In which the Words in the Various Branches of Medicine are Deduced from their Original Languages; Properly Accented and Explained, 2nd edition, London: Printed by J. D. Dewick, Aldersgate Street, for Lackington, Allen, and Co. Temple of the Muses, Finsbury Square, →OCLC, page 11:

That spot known to crossword solvers as the acnestis.

Excoriations are typically linear and occur where the patient can reach with his hands. […] The middle of the back is typically spared, although with a back scratcher, this rule loses value. This pattern of sparing has been called the reverse butterfly sign; the Greek word for the area that cannot be reached is acnestis.

2000, Otto Braun-Falco with Gerd Plewig, Helmut H. Woolf, and Walter H. C. Burgdorf, Dermatology, 2nd completely rev. edition, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, page 991:

In what has to be the longest post-election season in living memory, the last five months have felt like an acnestis upon our collective soul; like that little patch of skin on our backs that we just can't reach to scratch ourselves. It's irritating. It's annoying. It's left us reaching and spinning around in circles.

2008 August 5, New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

I nudged Winston [a cat] to one side of his chair and sat down beside him. I scratched the spot between his shoulders, the acnestis that animals can't scratch by themselves, and he looked up at me and smiled.

2010, Blaize Clement, Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs: A Dixie Hemingway Mystery, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Dunne Books, →ISBN, page 24:

Acnestis (n.) On an animal, the point of the back that lies between the shoulders and the lower back, which cannot be reached to be scratched. I am very glad I found this word early in my reading of the OED – the fact that there existed a word for this thing which previously I had been sure lacked a name was such a delight to me that suddenly the whole idea of reading the dictionary seemed utterly reasonable.

2010, Ammon Shea, Satisdiction: One Man's Journey into all the Words He'll Ever Need, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN:

(zoology) The section of an animal's skin that it cannot reach in order to scratch itself, usually the space between the shoulder blades.


actinomorphous

en-adj

actinomorphous (comparative more actinomorphous, superlative most actinomorphous)

more actinomorphous (comparative)
most actinomorphous (superlative)


actinomorphic

actinomorphic (comparative more actinomorphic, superlative most actinomorphic)

more actinomorphic (comparative)
most actinomorphic (superlative)

(botany, of a flower) Having its petals arranged in a radially symmetric fashion.

actinomorphe

having its petals arranged in a radially symmetric fashion


panspermia

Lederberg's ideas were tinged with Cold War paranoia. In his hands, panspermia came to resemble horizontal gene transfer on a cosmic scale.

2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 88:

(biology) The hypothesis that microorganisms may transmit life from outer space to habitable bodies; or the process of such transmission.


pectin

en-noun

pectin (countable and uncountable, plural pectins)

pectins (plural)
pectine (alternative archaic)

From French pectine, coined in the 1830s by Henri Braconnot, from acide pectique "pectic acid", from Ancient Greek πηκτικός (pēktikós, “curdling”), from πηκτός (pēktós, “curdled”), from πήγνυμι (pḗgnumi, “stiffen”).

der

Apple is rich in pectin and so is often added to other fruits when making jam so it will set.

(biochemistry) A polysaccharide extracted from the cell walls of plants, especially of fruits; under acidic conditions it forms a gel. It is often used in processed foods, especially jellies and jams where it causes thickening (setting).


cell wall

cell walls (plural)
cell-wall (alternative)

The name of Chlamydomonas is applied to certain microscopic green bodies, each of which consists of a protoplasmic central substance invested by a structureless sac. The latter contains cellulose, as in ordinary plants; and the chlorophyll which gives the green colour enables the Chlamydomonas to decompose carbonic acid and fix carbon, as they do. Two long cilia protrude through the cell-wall, and effect the rapid locomotion of this "monad," which, in all respects except its mobility, is characteristically a plant.

1876, T. H. Huxley, “On the Border Territory between the Animal and the Vegetable Kingdoms”, in Littell's Living Age, vol. 128, no. 1657:

The structural distinctiveness of the cell—in plants especially—is dues in large part to the presence of an outer layer, or coat, the cell wall, which in plants is usually firm, and often hard and thick; in animals, delicate or lacking.

1947, Arthur J. Eames, Laurence H. MacDaniels, An Introduction to Plant Anatomy, 2nd edition:

Terrestrial vascular plants contain considerable quantities of lignin, an amorphous phenylpropanoid structural polymer that binds cell wall components and cell walls together providing structural stability to plants.

1994, Robert A. Blanchette, “Lignin biodegradation in cell walls of woody plants”, in O. Petrini, G. B. Ouellette, editors, Host Wall Alterations by Parasitic Fungi, pages 55–65:

Think of the cell wall as a wicker basket in which a balloon has been inflated so that it exerts pressure from the inside. Such a basket is very rigid and resistant to mechanical damage.

2000, John L. Howland, The Surprising Archaea: Discovering Another Domain of Life, page 70:

(cytology) A thick, fairly rigid, layer formed around individual cells of bacteria, Archaea, fungi, plants, and algae (but not animals and other protists which generally have cell membranes without cell walls). The cell wall is external to the cell membrane and serves a structural function helping the cell maintain its shape and protecting the cell from damage.

selwand

thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae