gemma

Learned borrowing from Latin gemma (“bud on a plant”). Doublet of gem and Gemma.

lbor

I know of no other genera with such intramarginal formation of true gemmae.

1969, Rudolf Mathias Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume 1, Columbia University Press, page 527:

Gemmae are frequently longer than wide or of irregular shape.
According to Degenkolbe, gemmae-bearing leaves are always different in form from normal leaves.

1990, Anthony John Edwin Smith, The Liverworts of Britain and Ireland, page 2:

In Marchantia polymorpha, high temperature promotes germination of gemmae (Dacknowski, 1907), and heat absorbed by the gemmae accelerates their germination (Fitting, 1942).

2005, R. N. Chopra, Biology of Bryophytes, page 32:

(biology) An asexual reproductive structure, as found in animals such as hydra (genus Hydra) and plants such as liverworts (division Marchantiophyta), consisting of a cluster of cells from which new individuals can develop; a bud.


rasorial

en-adj

rasorial (comparative more rasorial, superlative most rasorial)

more rasorial (comparative)
most rasorial (superlative)

/ɹəˈsɔːɹɪəl/

From Rasores, the obsolete taxonomic order of birds including chickens and other poultry, and + -ial.

(ornithology, historical) Pertaining to the now obsolete order Rasores.


borer

(botany) The penetrating root of a parasitic plant.


philtrum

philtra (plural)
philtrums (plural)
filtrum (alternative)

Borrowed from the Latin philtrum (“a love potion”), from Ancient Greek φῐ́λτρον (phĭ́ltron, “a love charm; the dimple in the upper lip”). Doublet of philter.

bor

(zootomy) The junction between the two halves of an animal's upper lip or nose.


HGV

(rare, pathology, virology) Abbreviation of hepatitis G virus.


proboscis

en-noun

proboscis (plural proboscises or proboscides or probosces)

proboscises (plural)
proboscides (plural)
probosces (plural)

From Latin proboscis, from Ancient Greek προβοσκίς (proboskís, “elephant's trunk”) literally "means for taking food," from προ- (pro-, “before”) + βόσκω (bóskō, “to nourish, feed”), from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷeh₃- from which also comes βοτάνη (botánē, “grass, fodder”).

affix

Unlike the proboscides of Lower brachyceran lineages, which are continuous with the head capsule and tend to dangle (Matsuda 1965), the proboscides of most cyclorrhaphan species are suspended by a membranous region and divided into three functional parts: the basiproboscis (rostrum), medioproboscis (haustellum), and distiproboscis (labellum), each of which is defined by internal muscles but also shares muscles with the other regions (Graham-Smith 1930; Lall and Davies 1971).

2012, Brian Wiegmann, The Evolutionary Biology of Flies, page 225:

(anatomy) An elongated tube from the head or connected to the mouth, of an animal.

(entomology, malacology) The tubular feeding and sucking organ of certain invertebrates like insects, worms and molluscs.


monogamous

/məˈnɒɡəməs/

/məˈnɑɡəməs/

(zoology) Having only one sexual partner at a time.

monògam

having only one sexual partner at a time

(botany) Monogamic; having a simple flower with united anthers.


warm-blooded

en-adj

warm-blooded (comparative more warm-blooded or warmer-blooded, superlative most warm-blooded or warmest-blooded)

more warm-blooded (comparative)
warmer-blooded (comparative)
most warm-blooded (superlative)
warmest-blooded (superlative)
warmblooded (alternative)

The cold-blooded animals are all feeble breathers, and the most energetic breathers are the warmest-blooded. A mollusc, a fish, a frog, a quadruped, and a bird, represent the various stages of this correspondence.

1858 October, [George Henry Lewes], “Animal Heat”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume LXXXIV, number DXVI, Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, page 427, column 1:

Moreover, instead of hibernating like our northern reptiles, they [birds] are able to remain active all winter, even in arctic latitudes, so long as sufficient food is available to maintain the body. This retention of heat increases the body temperature, and implies an increase as well of the creature’s activity, so that birds in addition to being the warmest-blooded animals are at the same time the quickest and most active.

1925 September, Glover Morrill Allen, “Feathers”, in Birds and Their Attributes, Boston, Mass.: Marshall Jones Company, published 1937 February, page 37:

“It’s getting chilly,” the Asian chick said, maybe just to hear the sound of her own voice. […] / “Oh, I don’t know. Feels all right to me.” / “I guess you’re warmer-blooded than I am. Could I have my sweatshirt now?”

2016, Barry Eisler, Livia Lone, Seattle, Wash.: Thomas & Mercer, →ISBN, page 6:

We stood there, shivering, colder even than when we had been on our horses, for horses are warmer-blooded than their riders, and one always gains heat from them.

2016, Fiona Buckley [pseudonym; Valerie Anand], The Heretic’s Creed (The Ursula Blanchard Mysteries), Sutton, Surrey: Crème de la Crime, →ISBN, page 73:

(zoology) Maintaining a relatively constant and warm body temperature, regardless of the ambient temperature; endothermic.


anoxia

en-noun

anoxia (usually uncountable, plural anoxias)

From an- (prefix meaning ‘lacking, without’) + ox- (meaning ‘oxygen’) + -ia (suffix forming names of diseases).

affix

(ecology, pathology) A condition in which a body tissue or an environment is severely or totally deprived of oxygen; severe hypoxia.


reptilian

en-adj

reptilian (comparative more reptilian, superlative most reptilian)

more reptilian (comparative)
most reptilian (superlative)

From reptile + -ian, replacing earlier reptilious and adjectival reptile.

The Mesozoic represents that time on Earth when life flourished, but when such life was primarily reptilian, before the Age of Mammals.

2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition:

(zoology) Of or relating to the members of the class Reptilia (reptiles).


spermatozoon

spermatozoa (plural)
spermatozoön (alternative)
spermatozoan (alternative)

/ˌspɜːmətə(ʊ)ˈzəʊɒn/

From Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma, “sperm”) + ζῷον (zôion, “living thing”), equivalent to spermato- + -zoon.

af

But let us suppose [...] that one hardy or lucky spermatozoon has reached the waiting egg.

2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 339:

A sperm, or spermatozoa, is the microscopic male reproductive cell. Sperms are made up of oval-shaped heads and long tails that they use for mobility.

2024 June 11, Dr. Steve Chapman, “Is swallowing semen good for you?”, in Better2Know:

(cytology) A reproductive cell or gamete of a male, carried in semen, that fertilizes an ovum to produce a zygote.


animalcule

Learned borrowing from Late Latin animalculum (“lowly or small animal”) + English -cule (diminutive suffix). Animalculum is derived from Latin animal (“animal; living creature”) + -culum (diminutive suffix); and animal from animāle, the nominative neuter singular of animālis (“animate, living; relating to living creatures”), from anima (“breath; life; soul, spirit”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). The English word is analysable as animal + -cule.

der

If we are part of nature, then we are synonymous with it at the metaphysical level, every bit as much as the first all-but-inorganic animalcules that ever formed a chain of themselves in the blow hole of a primordial sea vent.

2011, John Jeremiah Sullivan, “La·hwi·ne·ski: Career of an Eccentric Naturalist”, in Pulphead, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →OCLC, pages 212–213:

(zoology, archaic) A microscopic aquatic animal, including protozoa and rotifers.


gametocyte

(cytology) A diploid germ cell that divides by meiosis into a gamete.


germ cell

(cytology) A cell that is part of the germ line: a gametocyte, an ovum or a sperm cell.


spermatocyte

The spermatogonia continue to reside in the gonocyst and form spermatocyte, which begins to increase in size.

2013, Rabindra N. Chatterjee, Lucas Sanchez, Genome Analysis in Eukaryotes, page 71:

Fragments of laminin chains can act as biologically active peptides to perturb the blood–testis barrier (BTB) permeability function by accelerating protein endocytosis (e.g., occludin) at the site, thereby destabilizing the BTB integrity to facilitate the transit of preleptotene spermatocytes.

2015 August 26, “A Catalog of Proteins Expressed in the AG Secreted Fluid during the Mature Phase of the Chinese Mitten Crabs ( Eriocheir sinensis )”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

(cytology) A male gametocyte, from which a spermatozoon develops.


diploid

From diplo- + -oid. By surface analysis, di- + -ploid.

It has been shown, however, that triploid forms producing diploid gametes in one sex and haploid ones in the other sex can act as a stepping stone towards tetraploidization (triploid bridge; [ 93 – 95 ]).

2015 July 4, Heinz-Ulrich Reyer, Christian Arioli-Jakob, Martina Arioli, “Post-zygotic selection against parental genotypes during larval development maintains all-hybrid populations of the frog Pelophylax esculentus”, in BMC Evolutionary Biology, volume 15, →DOI:

(genetics) Of a cell, having a pair of each type of chromosome, one of the pair being derived from the ovum and the other from the spermatozoon. Most somatic cells of higher organisms are diploid.

diploide

of a cell, having a pair of each type of chromosome

(genetics) Of an organism, having diploid cells.


haploid

en:genetics, broad sense, defined by typical gamete karyotype for the organism

(genetics, loosely) Having the number of chromosomes that a typical gamete has (in the given organism), namely, half the number that a typical somatic cell has (in the given organism).

Examples of haploid cells are prokaryotes and the gametes of eukaryotes.

en:genetics, strict sense, defined by typical gamete karyotype for most organisms

(genetics, strictly) Having a single set of unpaired chromosomes (which is the number that a typical gamete has in many organisms although not all).

haploide

having a single set of unpaired chromosomes


acid-fast

en-adj

acid-fast (comparative more acid-fast, superlative most acid-fast)

more acid-fast (comparative)
most acid-fast (superlative)

(histology, of bacteria) Retaining stain when treated with an acidic solution.

aigéadobach

retaining stain when treated with an acidic solution


bulbous

bulbous (comparative more bulbous, superlative most bulbous)

more bulbous (comparative)
most bulbous (superlative)

From bulb + -ous or alteration of Latin bulbosus.

(botany) Growing from a bulb or producing bulbs.


noggin

Uncertain. First use appears c. 1588. Appears in publications in the 1600s (e.g. in The Tincker of Turvey) in several forms including the still-current Irish English form naggin, the rare older Irish, Scottish and Northern English form noggan, used by Jonathan Swift, and the Wexford form nuggeen. Tomás S. Ó Máille and some older dictionaries like Skeat's derive it from Irish naigín, cnaigín, from cnagaire, cnag, but the Oxford English Dictionary argues that Irish naigín and Scottish Gaelic noigean instead derive from English. Compare nog.

(biochemistry) A signalling molecule involved in embryo development, producing large heads at high concentrations.


recrudescence

en-noun

recrudescence (countable and uncountable, plural recrudescences)

From Late Latin recrudescentia, from Latin recrūdēscēns, present participle of recrūdēscere (“to recrudesce”), from recrūdēscō (“to become raw again”); from re- (“again”) + crūdēscō (“to grow harsh or violent; to become worse”) (from crūdus (“bleeding, bloody, raw”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“blood outside the body”)) + -ēscō (suffix forming verbs indicating a becoming of something)). The word is cognate with French recrudescence, Italian recrudescenza, Spanish recrudescencia, recrudecimiento.

der

[Frédéric] Kirschleger describes a tuft of leaves as occurring on the apex of the flowering spike after the maturation of the fruit in Plantago, and a similar growth frequently takes place in the common wallflower, in Antirrhinum majus, &c. In cases where a renewal of growth in the axis of inflorescence has taken place after the ripening of the fruit, the French botanists use the term recrudescence, but the growth in question by no means always occurs after the ripening of the fruit, but frequently before.

[1869, Maxwell T[ylden] Masters, “Prolification”, in Vegetable Teratology, an Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants (Ray Society; XLV), London: Published for the Ray Society by Robert Hardwicke, […], →OCLC, book I (Deviations from Ordinary Arrangement), part III (Alterations of Position), page 104:

A great many of the scapes have furnished examples of "recrudescence," a few flowers having been produced amongst the ripening capsules; but fresh flower-stalks have also continued to shoot up from the root, and at the time I write (Oct. 4) I see there is one very pretty bunch of flowers upon a last year's seedling plant.

1872, Robert Holland, “Monstrous Plants in 1872”, in J[ohn] E[llor] Taylor, editor, Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip: An Illustrated Medium of Interchange and Gossip for Students and Lovers of Nature, volume VIII, number 96, London: Robert Hardwicke, […], published 1873, →OCLC, page 271, column 1:

(botany) The production of a fresh shoot from a ripened spike.


dendrite

From Ancient Greek δενδρίτης (dendrítēs, “of or pertaining to a tree”). Equivalent to dendr- + -ite.

uder

Little copses of television antennas. Whiplike, graceful thrilling metal dendrites drawing images from the air, bringing brotherhood, communion to immured apartment people.

1970, Saul Bellow, Mr. Sammler’s Planet, Greenwich, CT: Fawcett, 1971, Chapter 1, pp. 12–13 (online edition)

A typical brain neuron has perhaps a thousand little wires, called dendrites, which connect it with its fellows.

1979, Carl Sagan, “Can We Know the Universe? Reflections on a Grain of Salt”, in John Carey, editor, Eyewitness to Science, Harvard University Press, published 1997, page 437:

(cytology) A slender projection of a nerve cell which conducts nerve impulses from a synapse to the body of the cell; a dendron.

(cytology) Slender cell process emanating from the cell bodies of dendritic cells and follicular dendritic cells of the immune system.


nerve cell

The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure.

2013 August 3, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

(cytology) A cell of the nervous system which conducts nerve impulses; a neuron.

عَصْبُون

cell of the nervous system — see also neuron


lepra

From Latin lepra (“psoriasis & similar skin diseases”), from Koine Greek λέπρα (lépra, “psoriasis & similar skin diseases”), from λεπρός (leprós, “scaly”), from either λεπίς (lepís, “scale”) or λέπος (lépos, “husk, scale”) + -ρος (-ros, suffix forming adjectives). The shift of sense from psoriasis to Hansen's disease occurred in large part from the use of λέπρα (lépra) to translate Hebrew צרעת (“tzaraath”) in the Septuagint and its subsequent use in the New Testament and Late Latin.

der

Lepra is frequently met with on the trunks, especially of young trees.

1805, translation of Karl Ludwig Willdenow as The Principles of Botany and of Vegetable Physiology, p. 344

(botany, rare, obsolete) Any layer of algae, lichens, or other substance producing a leprosylike appearance on the surfaces of plants.


spinal

Borrowed from Late Latin spīnālis (“of or belonging to the spine”), from spīna (“a prickle, spine”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). By surface analysis, spine + -al.

af

(anatomy, zootomy) Of or relating to the spine.

Of or relating to the spine.
Of or pertaining to the spinal cord.

(zoology) (of a frog or other experimental animal) Having a pithed brain, but an intact surgically isolated spinal cord.


cuneate

en-adj

cuneate (comparative more cuneate, superlative most cuneate)

more cuneate (comparative)
most cuneate (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin cuneātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

(botany) wedge-shaped, with the narrow part at the base.

(botany) having straight, or almost straight sides meeting at the apex or base.


ligule

(botany) A portion of a leaf found at the base of the petiole, when present.

(botany) In many grasses (Poaceae) and some sedges (Cyperaceae), the membranous appendage or ring of hairs projecting from the inner side of a leaf at the junction between the blade and the sheath.


petiole

Borrowed from French pétiole, and its source, Late Latin petiolus (“little foot”), diminutive form of Latin pēs (“foot”).

Most insects consume tissue from the leaf blade were measured just past the twist on the side away only, leaving the leaf petioles unscathed.

1978, Harry T. Valentine, Estimating Defoliation of Hardwoods Using Blade-petiole Relations, Forest Service Research Paper NE 405, US Department of Agriculture, page 1:

By contrast, the petioles of large pinnate leaves, as well as stems, typically resist torsion by placing stiff materials with high elastic moduli (like sclerenchyma) toward the perimeters of their cross sections.

1992, Karl J. Niklas, Plant Biomechanics, University of Chicago Press, page 167:

An example of this is leaf petioles. Some species of trees have pinnate leaves which, when the leaves fall, shed pinnae from the petiole, which is then left as a tapering, somewhat flexible rod.

2000, Mike Hansell, Bird Nests and Construction Behaviour, Cambridge University Press, page 116:

(botany) The stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem.

(entomology, insect anatomy) A narrow or constricted segment of the body of an insect; especially, the metasomal segment of certain Hymenoptera, such as wasps.

(entomology) The stalk at the base of the nest of the paper wasp.


caudex

From Latin caudex (“tree trunk”, “tree stem”); compare codex.

uder

(botany) An enlargement of the stem, branch or root of a woody plant, usually serving to store water.


chorion

From Late Latin chorion, from Ancient Greek χόριον (khórion, “membrane surrounding the fetus, afterbirth”).

der

2002, Rovert E. A. Stewart, Barbara E. Stewart, Female Reproductive Systems, entry in Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, page 425,
The allantois fuses with the chorion, forming a small round area, the allentochorion. This region becomes the placenta (Fig. 3).

In this illustration, some license is taken, since the amnion is shown as still separate from the chorion; this is done to illustrate the process of apposition of the amniotic sac to the chorion and to accentuate the interposition of the yolk sac between the amnion and the chorion.

2006, Ona Marie Faye-Petersen, Debra S. Heller, Vijay V. Joshi, Handbook Of Placental Pathology, page 4:

The amnion and chorion begin to develop soon after fertilization and continue to grow until about 28 weeks′ gestation.

2007, Susan Tucker Blackburn, Maternal, Fetal, & Neonatal Physiology: A Clinical Perspective, page 106:

(anatomy, biology) The protective and nutritive membrane in higher vertebrates that attaches the fetus to the uterus.

suonikalvo

one of the membranes surrounding a fetus

The chorion has a predominantly lamellar structure, the lamellae being two-dimensional networks of protein fibrils.

1994, Klaus Urich, Comparative Animal Biochemistry, page 392:

Even closely related species may have chorions differing in thickness. In the silkmoths, for example, the chorion of Bombyx is about 25 μm thick while that of Hyalophora is 55 μm thick.

1998, R. F. Chapman, The Insects: Structure and Function, page 326:

2008, John L. Capinera, Eggs of Insects, entry in John L. Capinera (editor), Encyclopedia of Entomology, page 1290,
In addition to facilitating gas exchange and water conservation, the chorion must, in some cases, allow uptake of water or liquid nutrients from the environment.

(biology, entomology) The outer case of an insect egg.

(botany) The outer membrane of seeds of plants.


bulla

Borrowed from Latin bulla (“bubble”). Doublet of bill and bull (“papal bull; bubble”).

doublet

(biology, medicine) A blister, vesicle, or other thin-walled cavity or lesion, as:

(biology, medicine) (usually and especially) Such a blister that is more than 5 mm in diameter.

auditory bulla;   ethmoid bulla

(biology) Any of several hollow structures as features of bones.

The tympanic part of a temporal bone (having a bubble-like appearance).


protogenic

(botany) Relating to intercellular spaces formed within undifferentiated plant tissues.


sneaker

From sneak + -er. The shoes sense is a reference to the quietness of the shoes.

These sneakers may go on this way indefinitely, or, if one of the big males somehow dies or disappears, a sneaker male's hormones will trigger a huge growth spurt and he'll metamorphose into an alpha male.

2008, Faye Flam, The Score: The Science of the Male Sex Drive:

atlete

leisure shoes, often worn for sports; trainers


brain cell

brain cells (plural)
braincell (alternative)

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

Did you know that you have brain cells in your stomach?

2018 October 12, Naomi Alderman, “What the gut knows”, in New Statesman:

(cytology) A cell in the brain, such as a neuron or a glial cell.

Those two morons only have one brain cell to share between them.

(humorous, figurative, hyperbolic) Taken as a unit of intelligence, especially in small quantities.


blood cell

blood cells (plural)
blood-cell (alternative)

(hematology, cytology) Any of the cells normally found in blood, namely erythrocytes and leukocytes, sometimes including the platelets.

خَلِيَّة دَم

any of the cells normally found in the blood


anucleate

(cytology) Which does not have a nucleus.


platelet

(hematology, cytology) A small colorless disk-shaped particle found in the blood of mammals, which plays an important role in the formation of blood clots.


villous

en-adj

villous (comparative more villous, superlative most villous)

more villous (comparative)
most villous (superlative)
villose (alternative)

Giardia causes villous blunting.


competitive

competitive (comparative more competitive, superlative most competitive)

more competitive (comparative)
most competitive (superlative)

[kəmˈpɛɾəɾɪv]

/ˈkɒmpəʈɪʈɪv/

From Latin competītus (past participle of competere) + -ive.

competitive antagonist

(biochemistry) Relating to the inhibition of the effects of a chemical substance by another substance competing with it for binding or bonding.


forb

Borrowed from Ancient Greek φορβή (phorbḗ, “food”), from φέρβω (phérbō, “to feed”).

So younger is better and the part nearest the roots is better, but what makes life possible for the pronghorn is a supply of forbs—small broadleaf plants growing among the grasses.

2002, Dale F. Lott, American Bison: A Natural History, page 122:

2004, A. Kirilov, P. Todorova Development of forage areas and forage resources in Bulgaria during the period of transition, A. Lüscher, et al. (editors), Land Use Systems in Grassland Dominated Regions: Proceedings of the 20th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation, Grassland Science in Europe, Volume 9, page 859,
Buchgraber (1995) recommends 50-70% of grasses, 10-30% of legumes and also 10-30% of forbs on meadows, while Kessler (1994) recommends the same proportion of grasses, 10-20% of legumes and 20-40% of forbs on natural meadows.

Common understory forbs included, but were not limited to, large-leaved aster, bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), bluebead lily, species of clubmoss, Canada mayflower, and sweet coltsfoot (Petasites frigidus).

2009, Mesaba Energy Project Environmental Impact Statement, 3.8-3:

(chiefly ecology) Any non-woody flowering plant that is not a graminoid (a grass, sedge, or rush).


synonymous

From Medieval Latin synōnymus, from Ancient Greek συνώνυμος (sunṓnumos). By surface analysis, synonym + -ous.

(genetics, of a SNP) Such that both its forms yield the same sequenced protein.

synonyme

genetics: with both forms yielding the same protein


IF

en-noun

IF (countable and uncountable, plural IFs)

intermediate filament
intermediate filament#English

(biochemistry) Initialism of intermediate filament.


territorial

en-adj

territorial (comparative more territorial, superlative most territorial)

more territorial (comparative)
most territorial (superlative)

/ˌtɛɹ.ɪˈtɔː.ɹi.əl/

Borrowed from Late Latin territorialis, from Latin territorium; equivalent to territory + -al.


territoriality

en-noun

territoriality (countable and uncountable, plural territorialities)

/tɛɹɪtɔːɹɪˈalɪti/

(zoology) The pattern of behaviour in animals that defines and defends a territory.


filament

Borrowed from Medieval Latin fīlāmentum, from Late Latin fīlō (“to spin, draw out in a long line”), from Latin fīlum (“thread”).

der

(botany) The stalk of a flower stamen, supporting the anther.


carpel

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

1835, borrowed from French carpelle, from New Latin carpellum, a diminutive of Ancient Greek κᾰρπός (kărpós, “fruit”), from Proto-Indo-European *kerp- (“to pluck, harvest”).

(botany) A constituent part of a flower pistil: the female reproductive organs in a flower. A carpel is composed of an ovary, a style, and a stigma, although some flowers have carpels without a distinct style. In origin, carpels are leaves (megasporophylls) that have evolved to enclose the ovules. A pistil may be composed of a single carpel or of several carpels fused together.


webbing

en-noun

webbing (countable and uncountable, plural webbings)


thallogen

(botany) Any of a large number of plants that consist of a thallus only, with no flower, leaves etc.


thallus

From Ancient Greek θαλλός (thallós, “young shoot, twig”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰelh₁- (“to bloom”).

der

As it flows it takes the forms of sappy leaves or vines, making heaps of pulpy sprays a foot or more in depth, and resembling, as you look down on them, the laciniated, lobed, and imbricated thalluses of some lichens; […]

1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Spring”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:

(botany) An undifferentiated plant body, such as in algae.

(botany) Any plant body lacking vascular tissue.


thallophyte

From translingual Thallophyta. Surface reading of thallus + -phyte (“plant”).

1994, Estrelita A. Madriaga, Anthony Lee, Felicitas B. Ventura, Orlando A. Oronce (coordinator), Biology: Science and Technology II, page 347,
They lack the vascular tissues; thus, they are called thallophytes. Algae are thallophytes with chlorophyll. […] Fungi are thallophytes without chlorophyll.

1994, Pat E. Rasmussen, Chapter IV.5: Mercury in Vegetation of the Precambrian Shield, Carl J. Watras, John W. Huckabee (editors), Mercury Pollution: Integration and Synthesis, page 422,
In general, the usefulness of the thallophytes as Hg bioindicators was limited by their sporadic occurrence in the forest environment. Because of the importance of the thallophytes as components of the food chain, however, several samples from different groups (summarized in Table 2) were collected for comparison with values reported in the literature.

Fossile^([sic]) records along with molecular, cytological and morphological phylogenetic work favour a single origin of land plants from charophycean thallophytes, and indicate that several major lineages of vascular plants had evolved more than 400 million years ago.

1999, R. G. Hermann, “The Chloroplast: Part of the Integrated Genetic System of the Plant Cell”, in Joan H. Argyroudi-Akoyunoglou, Horst Senger, editors, The Chloroplast: From Molecular Biology to Biotechnology, page 66:

(botany) Any of very many primitive plants that consist of a thallus (plant body not differentiated into roots, stems and leaves), formerly collected in the obsolete taxonomic group Thallophyta.


chelate

en-adj

chelate (comparative more chelate, superlative most chelate)

more chelate (comparative)
most chelate (superlative)

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

(zoology) Having chelae, or in the form of a chela.[from 19th c.]


pungent

pungent (comparative more pungent, superlative most pungent)

more pungent (comparative)
most pungent (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin pungens (stem pungent-), present participle of pungo (“to sting”). Doublet of poignant.

(botany) Having a sharp and stiff point.


EB

en-noun

EB (countable and uncountable, plural EBs)

Epstein-Barr virus
Epstein-Barr virus#English

(virology) Initialism of Epstein-Barr virus.


PKC

protein kinase C
protein kinase C#English

(biochemistry) Initialism of protein kinase C.


pull-down

pull-down (countable and uncountable, plural pull-downs)

pull-downs (plural)
pulldown (alternative)

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

(biology) A technique by which a protein is brought down in a test tube by another.


isomorphism

isomorphism (countable and uncountable, plural isomorphisms)

Isomorphism on Encyclopedia of Mathematics

Natural Isomorphism on Wolfram MathWorld

(biology) the similarity in form of organisms, which may be due to convergent evolution or shared genetic background, e.g. an algae species in which the haploid and diploid life stages are indistinguishable based on morphology.

convergent evolution
convergent evolution

изоморфи́зъм

the similarity in form of organisms of different ancestry


zymase

zymase (countable and uncountable, plural zymases)

(biochemistry) Any of a group of enzymes that catalyze the fermentation of simple carbohydrates to ethanol and carbon dioxide.


zygotic

zygotic divergence (analysis)

(biology) Of, pertaining to or existing as a zygote.


zoophyte

zoophytes (plural)
zoöphyte (alternative)
zoophite (alternative)
zoöphite (alternative)

From zoo- + -phyte, after Middle French zoophyte; later reinforced by scientific Latin Zoophyta.

(biology, historical) An animal thought to have the characteristics of a plant, later specifically an invertebrate of the (former) group Zoophyta, comprising sponges, corals and sea anemones.

зоофи́т

invertebrate animal which resembles plants

And besides, as there are many Zoophyts, and sensitive Plants […] so have we, in some Authors, Instances of Plants turning into Animals, and Animals into Plants, and the like […]

1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia, section XIX:

(biology, historical) A plant believed to have the characteristics of an animal, especially a sensitive plant or vegetable lamb.


abiogenetically

(biology) In an abiogenetic manner; to have created life without life.


protected area

(conservation biology) an area where natural values are protected. The most common definitions of protected areas are those of the IUCN (World Conservation Union) http://www.iucn.org.

chráněné území

conservation biology: an area where natural values are protected


relict

Inherited from Middle English relicte (“widow”), from Middle French relicte (“widow”), from Late Latin relicta (“widow”), from Latin relictus, past participle of relinquō (“I abandon, I relinquish, I leave (behind)”), from re- + linquō (“I leave, quit, forsake, depart from”). Doublet of relic, derelict, and relinquish.

doublet

[…] a continental northern Alaskan element, including a series of endemic species and disjuncts that have survived the Pleistocene glaciation in northern Alaska and thus represent relicts of the much warmer Tertiary […]

1966 October, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume I, New York, N.Y.; London: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 4:

The species may be a relict of former stages of historical vegetation and landscape development resulting from past climate changes (glacial and post- glacial periods).

2010, M. Zimmerman et al., edited by Jan Christian Habel and Thorsten Assmann, Relict Species: Phylogeography and Conservation Biology, page 324:

(formal) Something that, or someone who, survives or remains or is left over after the loss of others; a relic.

(biology, ecology) A species, organism, or ecosystem that has survived from a previous age: one that was once widespread but is now found only in a few areas.


amplitude

en-noun

amplitude (countable and uncountable, plural amplitudes)

Borrowed from Middle French amplitude, from Latin amplitūdō, from amplus (“large”). By surface analysis, ample + -itude.

(ecology) The range of environmental conditions in which an organism can survive.


polyphyletic

(taxonomy) Having multiple ancestral sources; referring to a taxon that does not contain the most recent common ancestor of its members.


lamella

From Latin lāmella (“small, thin plate of metal”), from lāmina (“thin plate”) + -lus (diminutive suffix).

suf

A thin, plate-like structure.
(mycology) The gill of a mushroom.

A thin, plate-like structure.
The gill of a mushroom.


alveolus

Borrowed from Latin alveolus (“a small hollow or cavity”), diminutive of alveus (“a hollow, cavity”).

bor

(entomology) The socket of a macrotrichium (seta).

A small cavity or pit.
The socket of a macrotrichium (seta).


inheritance

en-noun

inheritance (countable and uncountable, plural inheritances)

inheritances (plural)
enheritance (alternative obsolete)
enheritaunce (alternative obsolete)
inheritaunce (alternative obsolete)
inhæritance (alternative hypercorrect obsolete)

Inherited from Middle English enheritaunce, inheritaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman, Old French enheritaunce, from enheriter.
Equivalent to inherit + -ance.

inh+

The Indo-European languages share various similarities as a result of their inheritance from a common ancestor.

(uncountable, especially linguistics, biology) The act or mechanism of inheriting; the state of having inherited.

(biology, genetic algorithms) The biological attributes passed hereditarily from ancestors to their offspring.

наследственост

biological attributes passed to offspring


bonnet

→ Scottish Gaelic: bonaid

From Middle English bonet, from Middle French bonet (Modern French bonnet), from Old French bonet (“material from which hats are made”), from Frankish *bunni (“that which is bound”), from Proto-Germanic *bundiją (“bundle”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”).
Compare also Late Latin abbonis, obbonis (“ribbon of a headdress”), also of Germanic origin, from Frankish *obbunni, from *ob- (“above, over”) + *bunni.
Cognate with Old High German gibunt (“band, ribbon”), Middle Dutch bont (“bundle, truss”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹 (gabundi, “bond”). More at over, bundle.

der

Anything resembling a bonnet (hat) in shape or use.

(mycology) A mushroom of the genus Mycena.


sensory

sensories (plural)
sensoric (alternative)

Is not the Senſory of Animals that place to which the ſenſitive Subſtance is preſent, and into which the ſenſible Species of Things are carried through the Nerves and Brain, that there they may be perceived by their immediate preſence to that ſubſtance ?

1704, Sir Isaac Newton, Opticks, 3rd edition, London: W. and J. Innys, published 1721, page 344:

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909


indeterminate

en-adj

indeterminate (comparative more indeterminate, superlative most indeterminate)

more indeterminate (comparative)
most indeterminate (superlative)

(biology, of growth) With no genetically defined end, and thus theoretically limitless.

(botany, of inflorescences) Not topped with some form of terminal bud.


mateship

en-noun

mateship (usually uncountable, plural mateships)

From mate + -ship. Cognate with Dutch maatschap (“partnership”).

The mateships of the three last-named animals are solitary, though in the case of wolves, the separated members of various mateships gather in packs during the winter months.

1942, Fred August Moss, Edward Lee Thorndike, Comparative Psychology, page 370:

Further, in most cultures without systems of codified laws, long-term mateships are ritually sanctioned by the community. If we are not to have too provincial a conception of marriage, these mateships should also count as marriages.

2005, David J. Buller, Adapting Minds: Evolutionary Psychology And The Persistent Quest For Human Nature, page 259:

In Homo sapiens we find two types of polygamous mateships, polygyny and polyandry, and social structures based on these are ordinarily called “families.” Relatively rare in man in an institutionalized form, polyandrous mateships appear to be absent in infrahuman primates.

2010, A. Irving Hallowell, “15: The Protocultural Foundations of Human Adaptation”, in Yehudi A. Cohen, editor, Human Adaptation: The Biosocial Background, page 164:

The most frequent conflict within human mateships is the conflict between male sexual persistence and female sexual resistance.

2012, Dietrich Klusmann, Wolfgang Berner, “Chapter 14: Sexual Motivation in Mateships an Sexual Conflict”, in Todd K. Shackelford, Aaron T. Goetz, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Sexual Conflict in Humans, page 233:

(countable, zoology, psychology, anthropology) A relationship based on mating.


parasitism

parasitism (usually uncountable, plural parasitisms)

From parasite + -ism. Cognate with French parasitisme and Portuguese and Spanish parasitismo.

(ecology, biology) Interaction between two organisms, in which one organism (the parasite) benefits and the other (the host) is harmed.


thalamus

From Latin thalamus, from Ancient Greek θάλαμος (thálamos, “an inner chamber, a bedroom, a bed”).

der

(botany) The receptacle of a flower; a torus.


cortex

en-noun

cortex (countable and uncountable, plural cortexes or cortices)

(uncountable, botany) The tissue of a stem or root that lies inward from the epidermis, but exterior to the vascular tissue.


annulus

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin ānnulus, a misspelling of Latin ānulus (“ring, especially one worn on a finger”), from ānus (“ring”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eh₂no- (“ring”)) + -ulus (diminutive suffix).
The plural form annuli is a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin ānnulī.

lbor

(botany) A structure surrounding a sporangium (or part of it) which shrinks and causes it to rupture for spore dispersal; specifically, in a fern: a structure around about two-thirds of the sporangium consisting of differentially thick-walled cells which dry and distort the sporangium; and in a moss: a complete ring of cells around the tip of the sporangium which dissolves to cause the tip to detach.

annulus

structure surrounding a sporangium (or part of it) which shrinks and causes it to rupture for seed dispersal

(mycology) The membranous remnants of a partial veil which leaves a ring on the stem of a mushroom.

حَلَقَة

(ichthyology) A dark ring on a fish's scale that is formed when a fish's growth rate slows down in the winter due to low food intake and the scale's circuli move closer to one another. The dark ring is used to estimate the fish's age, approximately one year per annulus.


adaxial

[…]it has been transformed, except in a few taxa where lobules are always explanate, into a galeate water-sac, which is formed wholly from the lobule, with the external surface from the adaxial leaf surface.

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 4:

(botany) On the side that is towards the axis or central line, usually on the upper side.

levél színe

on the side that is towards the axis or central line


venule

(anatomy, botany) A small vein, especially one that connects capillaries to a larger vein.

веничка

a small vein, especially one that connects capillaries to a larger vein


moriform

en-adj

moriform (comparative more moriform, superlative most moriform)

more moriform (comparative)
most moriform (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin morus (“mulberry”) + -form.

A moriform (blackberry-like) capitulum is one in which the flower-buds are longer than the interfloral bracts prior to anthesis; when the buds are concealed prior to anthesis by imbricated bracts or by interlocking bracteal setae the capitulum is termed conelike.

1985, Rupert C. Barneby, The Genus Mimosa (Mimosaceae) in Bahia, Brazil: New Taxa and Nomenclatural Adjustments, in Brittonia, vol. 37, no. 2


phenology

(biology) The study of the effect of climate on periodic biological phenomena.


smear

en-noun

smear (countable and uncountable, plural smears)

From Middle English smeren, smerien, from Old English smerian, smyrian, smierwan (“to anoint or rub with grease, oil, etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *smirwijan, from Proto-Germanic *smirwijaną. Doublet of schmear.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian smeere, Dutch smeren, Low German smeren, German schmieren.

(biology) A preparation to be examined under a microscope, made by spreading a thin layer of a substance (such as blood, bacterial culture) on a slide.


testate

High frequency of species with acrostomy, eg species of the genera Euglypha, Assulina and Nebela, supports the conclusion that humidity is a major structuring force for testate amoebae at TH III.

2010, Valentyna Krashevska, Mark Maraun, Stefan Scheu, “Micro-and macroscale changes in density and diversity of testate amoebae of tropical montane rain forests of Southern Ecuador”, in Acta Protozoologica, volume 49, number 1:

(zoology) Having a test (external calciferous shell or endoskeleton)


verruca

(mycology) A rounded projection or wart.

(botany) A sexine element similar to a wart.


seta

setas (plural)
setae (plural)
setæ (plural)

From Latin seta, from saeta. Doublet of soy (“silk”).

The latter has the sporophyte seta 4 cells in diam. and has thecal Lejeunea-type androecial branches[…]

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 6:

(botany) The stalk of a moss sporangium, or occasionally in a liverwort.


IDE

IDE (countable and uncountable, plural IDEs)

(biochemistry, countable) Initialism of insulin-degrading enzyme.


mutation

mutation (countable and uncountable, plural mutations)

Late 14th century as Middle English mutacioun, from Latin mūtātiō, both directly and via Old French mutacion.

Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 2013-08-14:

(genetics) Any heritable change of the base-pair sequence of genetic material.


rounded

en-adj

rounded (comparative more rounded, superlative most rounded)

more rounded (comparative)
most rounded (superlative)


islet

From Middle French islette. By surface analysis, isle + -let.

(biology) An isolated piece of tissue that has a specific function.


monocotyledon

Elachistine moths are the world’s most species-rich group of Lepidoptera that specialize on monocotyledon plants, especially grasses and sedges.

2011 November 18, Lauri Kaila, Elachistine Moths of Australia: (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Elachistidae) (Animal & Veterinary Science):

(botany) Any plant whose seedlings typically have one cotyledon (seed leaf) (in contrast to the two cotyledons typical of dicots), thereby belonging to the taxonomic monocots, formerly variously known as Monocotyledones, Monocotyledonae, or Liliopsida, a class in the angiosperms (Angiospermae), the flowering plants.

birləpəlilər

Plant belonging to Monocotyledones or Liliopsida


dicotyledon

From di- (“two”) + cotyledon (“embryonic leaf”).

pre

Dicotyledons and monocotyledons together make up the flowering plants, the angiosperms.

(botany) A plant whose seedling has two cotyledons.

(botany, historical) Any plant in what used to be the Dicotyledones.


cotyledon

From Latin cotylēdōn, from Ancient Greek κοτυληδών (kotulēdṓn, “cup-shaped cavity”), from κοτύλη (kotúlē, “cup”).

der

(botany) The leaf of the embryo of a seed-bearing plant; after germination it becomes the first leaves of the seedling.


dicot

(botany) A plant whose seedlings have two cotyledons, a dicotyledon.


monocot

(botany) Alternative form of monocotyledon.


liliopsid

(botany) a member of the class Liliopsida. Circumscription of this class will vary with the taxonomic system being used.


liliopsid

en-adj

liliopsid (comparative more liliopsid, superlative most liliopsid)

more liliopsid (comparative)
most liliopsid (superlative)

(botany) pertaining to a member of the class Liliopsida.


magnoliopsid

(botany) A member of the class Magnoliopsida. Circumscription of this class will vary with the taxonomic system being used.


magnoliopsid

(botany) Belonging or relating to the class Magnoliopsida.


biomass

en-noun

biomass (usually uncountable, plural biomasses)

From bio- (prefix denoting organic life) + mass (“matter, material”).

prefix

Since protein constitutes the majority of the biomass of a cell, building new protein is a major way that cells increase their size.

2005, David A. Guertin, David M. Sabatini, “Cell Size Control”, in Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, volume IV, Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, →DOI, →ISBN:

The total mass of a living thing or a part thereof (such as a cell).

biomassa

In the untouched Shangri-la-like Kingman Reef in the Line Islands in the central Pacific, sharks make up 75 per cent of the fish biomass.

2012 August 2, Theo Tait, “Don’t Wear Yum-yum Yellow [review of Demon Fish: Travels through the Hidden World of Sharks (2012) by Juliet Eilperin]”, in London Review of Books, volume 34, number 15, London: LRB Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-04:

The total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.


stringer

[T]hose fellows know how to spot a stringer at work.

1980, Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book, page 82:

(birdwatching) A person who deliberately states that a certain bird is present when it is not; one who knowingly misleads other birders about the occurrence of a bird, especially a rarity.


Rubisco

RuBisCO (alternative)
rubisco (alternative)

To turn light into food takes several steps, but the key is an extremely inefficient enzyme called RuBisCO.

2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 29:

(biochemistry) An enzyme (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase) which catalyzes both the fixing of atmospheric carbon dioxide during photosynthesis (and for a few chemioautotrophic bacteria) and the reverse process of photorespiration.


centromere

Borrowed from German Centromer, corresponding to centro- + -mere (from Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “part”)).

The aberrant bivalents with single terminal chiasmata are specially liable to this failure of orientation, presumably because their centromeres lie exceptionally far apart, as is the case in similar circumstances in a Lilium hybrid with reduced chiasma-frequency.

1936, C. D. Darlington, “The Analysis of Chromosome Movements, I. Podophyllum versipelle”, in Cytologia, volume 7, numbers 1-2, page 242:

Every chromosome has a long arm and a short arm separated by a pinch point known as a centromere.

1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2000, page 16:

(genetics) The central region of a eukaryotic chromosome where the kinetochore is assembled.


kinetochore

From kineto- + Ancient Greek χῶρος (khôros, “space”).

(biology) The protein structure in eukaryotes which assembles on the centromere and links the chromosome to microtubule polymers from the mitotic spindle during mitosis.


eukaryotic

The close analogies between DNA-containing eukaryotic cell organelles and microbial symbionts require revision of classic cell theory, wrote Scwemmler and Schenk (1980) on introducing the field of endocytobiology.

1991, Lynn Margulis, René Fester, Symbiosis as a Source of Evolutionary Innovation:

(biology) Having complex cells in which the genetic material is organized into membrane-bound nuclei.

(biology) Of or pertaining to a eukaryote.


centriole

/ˈsɛntɹɪˌəʊl/

From Latin centriolum, diminutive of centrum. English equivalent centri- + -ole.

The aster is at this period closely similar to those of Ascaris at certain periods, as figured by Boveri, and the red mass with its central group of granules corresponds exactly, I think, to Boveri's "centrosome" with its "Centralkorn" or "centriole" ("centrosphere" with its "centrosome" in Strasburger's terminology).

1895, Edmund B. Wilson, “Archoplasm, centrosome, and chromatin in the sea-urchin egg”, in Journal of Morphology, volume 11, number 1:

(biology) A barrel-shaped microtubule structure found in most animal cells, important in the process of mitosis (nuclear division).


puff

en-noun

puff (countable and uncountable, plural puffs)

From Middle English puff, puf, from Old English pyf (“a blast of wind, puff”), imitative. Cognate with Middle Low German puf, pof.

onomatopoeic

imitative

(genetics) A region of a chromosome exhibiting a local increase in diameter.


isoleucine

en-noun

isoleucine (countable and uncountable, plural isoleucines)

essential amino acid
essential amino acid

(biochemistry) An essential amino acid, C₆H₁₃NO₂, isomeric with leucine, found in most animal proteins.


leucine

leucine (countable and uncountable, plural leucines)

Derived from Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) + -ine, equivalent to leuco- + -ine.

der+

Thus, leucine is already being seen as a pharmaconutrient of great relevance for the supplementary feeding of malnourished and frail elderly and for specific subpopulations.

2015 October 15, “Buffalo Cheese Whey Proteins, Identification of a 24 kDa Protein and Characterization of Their Hydrolysates: In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

(biochemistry) An essential amino acid, C₆H₁₃NO₂, isomeric with isoleucine, found in most animal proteins; it is essential for growth in children.


methionine

en-noun

methionine (countable and uncountable, plural methionines)

/mɪˈθʌɪəniːn/

/mɪˈθʌɪənɪn/

/mɛˈθaɪəˌniːn/

The purpose was to make soya beans more healthy for those for whom they are a staple food by correcting soya beans' natural deficiency in a chemical called methionine.

1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 253:

(biochemistry, organic chemistry) A lipotropic, sulphur-containing essential amino acid, C₅H₁₁NO₂S, found in most protein.


lipotropic

en-adj

lipotropic (comparative more lipotropic, superlative most lipotropic)

more lipotropic (comparative)
most lipotropic (superlative)

(biochemistry) helping to metabolize lipids


metabolize

en-verb

metabolize (third-person singular simple present metabolizes, present participle metabolizing, simple past and past participle metabolized)

metabolizes (present singular third-person)
metabolizing (participle present)
metabolized (participle past)
metabolized (past)
metabolise (alternative)

From Ancient Greek μετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ, “change, mutation”) + -ize.

der

(biology, intransitive) To undergo metabolism.

Among the many types of juice, grapefruit stands out from the pack because it changes the way some people absorb and metabolize different drugs.

2004, Walter C. Willett, “News About What You Drink”, in Mother Earth News:

The genes in question encode two enzymes that metabolize alcohol and its breakdown products; the two enzymes are known as alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase.

2004–05, Dustin Stephens, Robert Dudley, “The Drunken Monkey Hypothesis”, in Journal of Natural History, page 43:

(biology, transitive) To cause a substance to undergo metabolism.

أَيَّضَ

to cause a substance to undergo metabolism

(biology, transitive) To produce a substance using metabolism.


phenylalanine

en-noun

phenylalanine (countable and uncountable, plural phenylalanines)

(biochemistry) An essential amino acid C₉H₁₁NO₂ found in most animal proteins; it is essential for growth; the inability to metabolize it leads to phenylketonuria; it is a constituent of aspartame.


dipeptide

(biochemistry, organic chemistry) An organic compound formed from two amino acids joined by a peptide bond.


polypeptide

(biochemistry) Any such polymer that is not folded into a secondary structure of a protein.

多肽

biochemistry: any such polymer that is not folded into a secondary structure of a protein

(biochemistry) A small protein containing up to 100 amino acids; see also oligopeptide.

多肽

biochemistry: a small protein containing up to 100 amino acids


actinomycin

actinomycin (countable and uncountable, plural actinomycins)

(biochemistry, pharmacology) Any of a class of toxic polypeptide antibiotics found in soil bacteria of genus Streptomyces.

اکتینومایسین

antibiotic found in bacteria of genus Streptomyces


threonine

threonine (countable and uncountable, plural threonines)

(biochemistry) An essential amino acid C₄H₉NO₃ found in most animal proteins.


alanine

alanine (countable and uncountable, plural alanines)

From aldehyde + -anine, in reference to aldehyde, with the infix -an- for ease of pronunciation, when the German chemist Adolph Strecker first synthesized alanine in 1850 by mixing acetaldehyde (then just known as aldehyde) with ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and hydrochloric acid.

Potatoes can be a good source of alanine.

Furthermore, wedelolactone also increased the activities of superoxidase dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and decreased the level of the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver, therefore decreasing the activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT).

2015 July 14, “Wedelolactone Regulates Lipid Metabolism and Improves Hepatic Steatosis Partly by AMPK Activation and Up-Regulation of Expression of PPARα/LPL and LDLR”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

nonessential amino acid
nonessential amino acid

(biochemistry, uncountable) A nonessential amino acid 2-aminopropanoic acid found in most animal proteins


aspargine

aspargine (countable and uncountable, plural aspargines)

(biochemistry) Alternative form of asparagine.


cysteine

cysteine (countable and uncountable, plural cysteines)

(biochemistry) A sulphur-containing nonessential amino acid C₃H₇NO₂S found in most animal proteins; it readily oxidizes to cystine.

Cys when viewed as a monomer in proteins


glutamine

glutamine (countable and uncountable, plural glutamines)

(biochemistry) A nonessential amino acid C₅H₁₀N₂O₃ found in most animal and plant proteins.


glycine

glycine (countable and uncountable, plural glycines)

Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”) + -ine

(biochemistry) A nonessential amino acid, amino-acetic acid, C₂H₅NO₂ found in most proteins but especially in sugar cane; the simplest amino acid.


proline

proline (countable and uncountable, plural prolines)

(biochemistry) A nonessential amino acid C₅H₉NO₂ found in most animal proteins, especially collagen; its cyclic structure leads to kinks in the peptide chain of proteins.


peptide chain

(biochemistry) a chain of amino acids, linked by peptide bonds, that forms the 'backbone' of proteins


tyrosine

tyrosine (countable and uncountable, plural tyrosines)

From Ancient Greek τῡρός (tūrós, “cheese”) + -ine (since first discovered in cheese); surface analysis is approximately tyro- + -ine.

(biochemistry) A nonessential amino acid 2-amino-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propanoic acid found in most animal proteins, especially casein


corymb

From the French corymbe, from the Latin corymbus, from the Ancient Greek κόρυμβος (kórumbos). Doublet of corymbus.

Hoya carnosa (Thick-leaved).—Foliage large, flowers in large drooping corymbs; they are of a pinkish-white colour, and contain, or rather yield, drops of pure sweet honey; hence this fine old plant is known as the Honey plant.

1855 June 5, T. Appleby, “Plants for Baskets”, in George W. Johnson, Robert Hogg, editors, The Cottage Gardener, and Country Gentleman’s Companion: A Journal of Horticulture, Rural and Domestic Economy, Botany, and Natural History, volume XIV, number CCCXLIX, London: Published for the proprietors, […], →OCLC, page 161, column 2:

(botany) A cluster of flowers with a flat or convex top.


pendulous

en-adj

pendulous (comparative more pendulous, superlative most pendulous)

more pendulous (comparative)
most pendulous (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin pendulus (“pendant”), from pendeō (“I hang”).

(biology) Having branches etc. that bend downwards; drooping or weeping


gladius

From Latin gladius (“Roman short sword, gladius”). Doublet of glaive.

bor

From the Cretaceous of North America fossilised gladii in the enigmatic genus Tusoteuthis have been estimated to give a mantle length (body size) of 1.8m, just less than that of the giant squid’s.

2017 October 31, Mark Carnall, The Guardian:

(zoology) A pen, a hard internal bodypart of certain cephalopods, made of chitin-like material.


flowering plant

en-noun

flowering plant (plural flowering plants)

(botany) Any plant that produces flowers and fruit; an angiosperm.


silky

en-adj

silky (comparative silkier, superlative silkiest)

silkier (comparative)
silkiest (superlative)

From Middle English sylky, equivalent to silk + -y.

(botany) Covered in long, slender, glistening hairs pressed close to the surface; sericeous.


waved

waved (comparative more waved, superlative most waved)

more waved (comparative)
most waved (superlative)

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

(biology) Having on the margin a succession of curved segments or incisions.


eavesdropping

en-noun

eavesdropping (countable and uncountable, plural eavesdroppings)

(zoology) The act of one organism listening for another's calls, so as to exploit them.


bilateral symmetry

bilateral symmetry (usually uncountable, plural bilateral symmetries)

(biology) the characteristic, in animals, of being symmetric about a plane running from head to tail


prevalent

prevalents (plural)
prævalent (alternative)
prevailent (alternative)

From Latin praevalēns. By surface analysis, pre- + -valent.

The species I found to be most prevalent on the Spring Green study site were compared with lists of prevalents in compositionally related communities of Wisconsin developed by Curtis (1959).

1983, Donna K. McBain, Influence of Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus Virginiana L.) on Soil Properties and Vegetative Composition of a Sand Prairie in Southwestern Wisconsin, page 26:

(biology) A species that is prevalent in a certain area.


circadian rhythm

circadian rhythm (plural circadian rhythms)

(biology, sleep medicine) The internal body clock that regulates the roughly 24-hour cycle of biological processes in animals and plants.


eudicot

Probably a back-formation from eudicots, short for eudicotyledons, from the New Latin coinage eudicotylēdōn, from the Ancient Greek components εὐ- (eu-, “good, well”) + δι- (di-, “two”) + κοτυληδών (kotulēdṓn, “cup-shaped cavity”); equivalent to eu- (“true”) + dicot.


indicator

From Late Latin indicātor (“one who points out”), from Latin indicō (“point out”). By surface analysis, indicate + -or; see indicate.

der

(ecology) A plant or animal whose presence is indicative of some specific environment.


tricolpate

The pollen grains are tricolpate to tricolporoidate.

Tricolpate pollen, the signature of eudicots, first appears ca. 110 million years ago.

(botany, palynology, of a pollen) Having three grooves, or colpi, on each grain.


tricolpate

(botany, taxonomy) A plant with tricolpate (three-grooved) pollen, including any dicot.


Linnaean

From Linnaeus + -an. After Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778), Swedish naturalist who helped to standardize biological nomenclature.

(biology) Of or relating to Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish naturalist, either personally or in a wider sense, to the era influenced by him.

Nowhere was the victory of Linnaeanism more complete than in Britain. When William Hudson's Flora Anglica, organized in the Linnaean manner, appeared in 1762, it displaced all previous floras.

2000, Daniel R. Headrick, When Information Came of Age, page 26:

(taxonomy) Of or relating to the binomial nomenclature originated by him

linnéläinen

of or relating to the binomial nomenclature


phocine

From Latin phōca (“seal”) (from Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē)) + -ine.

Phocines anchor their hands by flexing their fingers, digging them into the substrate, and then pulling their body forward by elbow and shoulder flexion.

2007, Brian Keith Hall, Fins into Limbs, page 313:

(zoology) A member of the subfamily Phocinae, comprising the "true" or "earless" seals.


pantropical

(biology) Occurring in tropical areas on all the major continents, i.e. in Africa, Asia and America.


palaeotropical

en-adj

palaeotropical (comparative more palaeotropical, superlative most palaeotropical)

more palaeotropical (comparative)
most palaeotropical (superlative)

(biology, geography) Occurring in tropical Africa and Asia, i.e. the tropics of the Old World.


neotropical

neotropical (comparative more neotropical, superlative most neotropical)

more neotropical (comparative)
most neotropical (superlative)

(biology) Occurring in tropical America, i.e. the tropics of the New World.


arcus

Borrowed from Latin arcus. Doublet of arc and arco. Distantly related to arrow.

(entomology) An elastic band around the base of the arolium, a pad at the end of the leg of certain insects

(palynology) An arc-shaped band of thickened sexine extending between two apertures on a pollen grain or spore


extremophile

They had found the world's first extremophiles – organisms that could live in water that had previously been assumed to be much too hot or acid or choked with sulphur to bear life.

2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 207:

Lichens are 'extremophiles', organisms able to live, from our point of view, in other worlds.

2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 95:

(ecology) An organism that lives under extreme conditions of temperature, salinity etc; commercially important as a source of enzymes that operate under similar conditions.


halophile

(biology) An organism that lives and thrives in an environment of high salinity, often requiring such an environment; a form of extremophile

halófilo

organism that thrives in high-salinity environments


hyperthermophile

Meanwhile, scientists were finding even hardier microbes, now known as hyperthermophiles, which demand temperatures of 80 degrees Celsius or more.

2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 208:

(biology) An organism that lives and thrives in an extremely hot environment, such as a deep sea smoker vent; often a member of the Archaea.


thermophile

(biology) An organism that lives and thrives at relatively high temperatures; a form of extremophile; many are members of the Archaea.

termòfil

organism that lives and thrives at relative high temperatures


thermophilic

thermophilic (comparative more thermophilic, superlative most thermophilic)

more thermophilic (comparative)
most thermophilic (superlative)

(biology) Of or relating to a thermophile; living and thriving at relatively high temperatures.


softwood

en-noun

softwood (countable and uncountable, plural softwoods)

The bodies are sheeted in softwood, a double layer of ⅝-in. boards on the quarters, with a single thickness lining inside the steel ends.

1952 January, “British Railways Standard Wagons”, in Railway Magazine, page 61:

(uncountable, chiefly botany) The wood from any gymnosperm, without regard to how soft this wood is.


maquis

Borrowed from French maquis, from Corsican machja (related to Italian macchia), ultimately from Latin macula. Doublet of macula.

The older man claims to find a measure of peace in Corsica’s wild landscape, and as Mitchell explores the foothills of maquis, fragrant with “the sharp resinous smell of laurel rose and thyme,” he too succumbs.

2007 May 27, Alida Becker, “Season in the Sun”, in New York Times:

(botany) Dense Mediterranean coastal scrub.


competent

en-adj

competent (comparative more competent, superlative most competent)

more competent (comparative)
most competent (superlative)

From Middle English competent, conpetent, from Old French competent (modern French compétent), from Latin competens, competentem, present participle of competō (“coincide, be equal to, be capable of”). Compare Dutch competent (“competent”), German kompetent (“competent”), Danish kompetent (“competent”).

a competent sphincter;   a competent cervix;   a competent immune system

(biology, medicine, of an organ, tissue, or system) Functionally in order; functioning adequately.

(biology, of a cell wall) Permeable to foreign DNA.


heterotypic

(genetics) Relating to the first nuclear division in meiosis.


homotypic

(botany) Said of a taxon name which shares the exact same type as a different name and thus must necessarily refer to the same taxon.


DNA polymerase

en-noun

DNA polymerase (countable and uncountable, plural DNA polymerases)

(biochemistry) An enzyme that assists DNA replication.


polymerase chain reaction

polymerase chain reaction (plural polymerase chain reactions)

genetic fingerprinting
genetic fingerprinting

(genetics, molecular biology, organic chemistry) A technique in molecular biology for creating multiple copies of DNA from a sample; used in genetic fingerprinting etc.

ポリメラーゼ連鎖反応

ポリメラーゼれんさはんのう


-ome

Back-formation from mitome, reinforced by chromosome. Early examples include biome (1916) and genome, from German Genom (1920). Some association with genetics due to occurrence in chromosome and genome.

(biology) The complete whole of a class of substances for a species or an individual.


saccharine

en-adj

saccharine (comparative more saccharine, superlative most saccharine)

more saccharine (comparative)
most saccharine (superlative)

From New Latin saccharum (“sugar”) + English -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Saccharum is derived from saccharon (“syrupy liquid from bamboo or reeds”), from Ancient Greek σάκχαρον (sákkharon), from Pali sakkharā (“sugar; gravel; granule, grain; crystal; potsherd”), from Sanskrit शर्करा (śárkarā, “ground or candied sugar; cotton sugar, sugarmaple; gravel, grit, pebbles; potsherd”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“boulder; gravel”).

der

(chiefly botany, geology) Resembling granulated sugar; saccharoid.

سُكَّرِيّ

of or relating to sugar — see also sugary


blood test

(law, genetics) An analysis of blood performed on two subjects to determine whether they are biologically related, such as a paternity test.


culminate

First attested in 1846; borrowed from Medieval Latin culminātus, see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

(biology) Growing upward, as opposed to lateral growth.


mapping

en-noun

mapping (countable and uncountable, plural mappings)

(biology) The process of locating genes on a chromosome.


cacique

caciques (plural)
cazic (alternative)
cazique (alternative)

Borrowed from Spanish cacique, from Taíno *kasike or Lokono kassequa, cazaqah (“chieftain; power”).

(ornithology) Any of a number of tropical birds from Central America and South America in the genera Cacicus, Cassiculus, and Amblycercus.


tendril

From Middle French tendrillon (“bud, shoot, cartilage”), perhaps a diminutive of tendron (“cartilage”), from Old French tendre (“soft”) (see tender (adj.)), or else from Latin tendere (“to stretch, extend”) (see tender (v.)).

uder

The Gourd, / And thirſty Cucumer, vvhen they perceive / Th' approaching Olive, vvith Reſentment fly / Her fatty Fibres, and vvith Tendrils creep / Diverſe, deteſting Contact; […]

1708, [John Philips], “Book I”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 17:

(botany) A thin, spirally coiling stem that attaches a plant to its support.


phagocytize

en-verb

phagocytize (third-person singular simple present phagocytizes, present participle phagocytizing, simple past and past participle phagocytized)

phagocytizes (present singular third-person)
phagocytizing (participle present)
phagocytized (participle past)
phagocytized (past)
phagocytise (alternative UK)

(immunology, cytology, US) To ingest (something) by phagocytosis.


sida

(botany) any of the flowering plants of the genus Sida in the mallow family


cycadean

en-adj

cycadean (comparative more cycadean, superlative most cycadean)

more cycadean (comparative)
most cycadean (superlative)

(botany) Belonging to the same taxonomic order as the cycad.


photoautotroph

From photo- (from the combining form φωτω- (phōtō-) of Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs, “light”)) + autotroph, 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”)

(biochemistry, organic chemistry) an organism, such as all green plants, that can synthesize its own food from inorganic material using light as a source of energy


antivitamin

(biochemistry) Any compound that inhibits the metabolic action of a vitamin.

antywitamina

any compound that inhibits the metabolic action of a vitamin


antiparallel

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

Upon interaction with ss- nucleic acid (NA) targets (deoxyribooligonucleotides (ODNs) or ribooligonucleotides), they form very stable anti-parallel and parallel duplexes [3 ], and the melting temperatures of the antiparallel duplexes are 10 to 15°C higher than those of the parallel duplexes.

2015 October 16, “Polyanionic Carboxyethyl Peptide Nucleic Acids ( ce -PNAs): Synthesis and DNA Binding”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

(mathematics) (of vectors) Parallel but in opposite directions.

(biochemistry) Describing the orientations of the two strands of DNA.

secondary structure
secondary structure#English

(biochemistry) Describing two beta strands comprising a protein's secondary structure that are aligned and hydrogen bonded but where the vectors describing the amino- and carboxy-terminal ends of each strand are oriented 180° relative to one another.


chanterelle

/ˈtʃæntəɹɛl/

Borrowed from French chanterelle, from New Latin cantharellus, diminutive of Latin cantharus (“drinking vessel”), from Ancient Greek κάνθαρος (kántharos). Probably of Pre-Greek origin, cognate with Akkadian 𒃶𒁺𒊒𒌑 (/kanduru/, “kind of vessel”), from Sumerian 𒄑𒃶𒉡𒌉 (/gannu-tur/, “small vessel; potstand”, literally “little vessel, container, holder”).

cog

Even the homely wood blewits, that you cook like tripe, with milk and onions, and the egg-yolk yellow chanterelle with its fan-vaulting and faint smell of apricots, all spring up overnight like bubbles of earth, unsustained by nature, existing in a void.

1979, Angela Carter, ‘The Erl-King’, The Bloody Chamber, Vintage, published 2006, page 98:

Cantharellus cibarius
Cantharellus cibarius#Translingual

(mycology) A widely distributed edible mushroom, Cantharellus cibarius, being yellow and trumpet-shaped; or any similar mushroom of the genera Cantharellus, Polyozellus or Gomphus, not all of which are edible.


differentiate

en-verb

differentiate (third-person singular simple present differentiates, present participle differentiating, simple past and past participle differentiated)

differentiates (present singular third-person)
differentiating (participle present)
differentiated (participle past)
differentiated (past)

equate

antonym(s) of “to show the distinction between things”

mix up

antonym(s) of “to perceive the difference between things”

From New Latin differentiātus, perfect passive participle of differentiō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from Latin differentia (“difference”); see difference.

In Chapter IV we learned that every animal consists of a body, or soma, formed of cells that are differentiated from the germ cells usually at an early stage of development.

1930, Robert Evans Snodgrass, Insects: Their Ways and Means of Living:

Osteoblasts are derived from stromal cells, a type of connective tissue cell in the bone marrow, whereas osteoclasts differentiate from macrophages, which are tissue-bound derivatives of monocytes, a type of white blood cell (see p. 402).

2013, Lauralee Sherwood, “The Peripheral Endocrine Glands”, in Human Physiology: From Cells to Systems, 8th edition, Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, →ISBN, page 723:

(transitive, intransitive, often in the passive voice, biology) To (cause to) go through a process of development called differentiation; to make or become different in form or function.


rutting

(zoology) Pairing; the period of time when certain ungulates mate.


cistern

From Middle English cisterne, from Old French cisterne (Modern French citerne) from Latin cisterna, from cista (“box”), from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē, “box”). Doublet of cisterna.


APC

anaphase-promoting complex
anaphase-promoting complex#English

(cytology) Initialism of anaphase-promoting complex.

(biochemistry) Initialism of activated protein C.


automimicry

(ecology) The advantage gained by some members of a species from their resemblance to others of the same species. Males of many bees and wasps, although defenseless, are protected from predators by their resemblance to females that are equipped with stingers.


introvert

From New Latin intrōvertere, from intro- (“within”) and vertere (“to turn”). Popularized as a psychological term by the German works of Carl Jung. By surface analysis, intro- + -vert.

Important distinctions which obtain amongst the various ‘introverts’ or intro- and e-versible tubes so frequently met with in animal bodies.

1883, E. Ray Lankester, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XVI, p. 652, s.v. "Mollusca"

Peanut worms (phylum Sipunculida) are drab-colored bottom dwellers, most of which are less then four inches long. Their body is divided into two sections: the trunk and the introvert. The introvert, the narrow neck-like anterior section, is used as a probe.

1990, Deborah A. Coulombe, Seaside Naturalist, →ISBN, page 76:

When a peanut worm feeds, it extends and waves its introvert so that the mouth at the tip wanders across the seabed.

2006, Nematodes, Leeches, and Other Worms, →ISBN, page 38:

The introvert is everted by hydraulic pressure exerted by contraction of body muscles on the coelomic fluid.

2009, Lynn Marguli, Michael J Chapman, Kingdoms and Domains: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth, →ISBN:

(zoology) An organ or other body part that is or can be turned inside out, especially an anterior portion of some annelid worms capable of retraction.


introvert

introvert (third-person singular simple present introverts, present participle introverting, simple past and past participle introverted)

introverts (present singular third-person)
introverting (participle present)
introverted (participle past)
introverted (past)

/ɪntɹəʊˈvəːt/

His awkward gait, his introverted toes,
Bent knees, round shoulders, and dejected looks […]

1785, William Cowper, "The Task", Cant. IV, ll. 633 ff.

(zoology) To withdraw an organ or body part within itself or its base.


resorb

resorb (third-person singular simple present resorbs, present participle resorbing, simple past and past participle resorbed)

resorbs (present singular third-person)
resorbing (participle present)
resorbed (participle past)
resorbed (past)

From Latin resorbere, from re- (“again”) + sorbere (“to suck in”).

(biology, transitive) To dissolve (bone, sinew, suture, etc.) and assimilate it.


chemotaxis

en-noun

chemotaxis (countable and uncountable, plural chemotaxes)

chemotaxes (plural)
chemiotaxis (alternative dated)

(biology, biochemistry) The movement of a cell or an organism in response to a chemical stimulant.

趨化性 /趋化性

the movement of a cell or an organism in response to a chemical stimulant


motile

en-adj

motile (comparative more motile, superlative most motile)

more motile (comparative)
most motile (superlative)

From Latin mōtus, perfect passive participle of moveō (“I move”) (English move).

1914 Shelford, Victor E.: The American Naturalist: Comparison of the Responses of Sessile and Motile Plants and Animals
Sessile organisms are those which are sedentary in habit, whether attached or possessing slight powers of locomotion. Motile organisms are those that habitually move about. Vagile or creeping forms as well as swimming, walking, flying, burrowing types are included. Most sessile animals are capable of moving their parts, while only a few sessile plants possess this capacity, and these only to a slight degree. There is no sharp distinction between sessile (sedentary) and motile organisms. Every possible gradation exists between fixed non-motile types as trees on the one hand and the pelagic fishes on the other.

It seemed to him that, if there were a Holy Trinity as the churches taught, this must be unified through a manner of capillary action, Father merging into Son and both into Holy Ghost. So God is motile as the blood is.

1993 May 6, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man in Deptford, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, →OL:

And even if they use condoms, Wendell is young. His sperm is likely to be extremely motile.

2010 January 21, Bob Harris, “The Proof in the Pudding” (1:27), in Bones, season 5, episode 12, spoken by Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel):

2010 Steven M. Carr: Origin of Evolutionary Novelty, The Garstang Hypothesis Memorial University of Newfoundland
Modern As (Subphylum Urochordata) typically have a motile tadpole larva that undergoes metamorphosis to a sessile adult.

(biology) In organisms: having the power to move spontaneously.

1857 Philip Henry Gosse: On the Presence of Motile Organs , and the Power of Locomotion, in Foraminifera ... .
These [Foraminifera] were always found, a few hours after the weed had been deposited in my vases, adhering to the glass, with the pseudopodia extended ... constantly roaming ; they crawled up and down the stems and branches of the Algae, and over the various objects in the tank, never remaining long in. one station ... it is by means of the adhesion and contraction of the pseudopodia, that the animal drags itself along....

Flagella and cilia are structurally conserved motile organelles found on diverse cell types, ranging from single-celled protozoa and algae to multicellular tissues in vertebrates. They have diverse roles, for example, they can propel cells such as sperm through their environment or move fluid across a cell surface, as in ciliated epithelia such as the respiratory tract and oviduct.

2001Susan K Dutcher: Motile organelles: The importance of specific tubulin isoforms: doi.org/10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00250-0

(biology) In organs or organelles: capable of producing motion.


bipartite

From Latin bipartītus (“bisected”), perfect passive participle of bipartiō (“I divide into two parts, bisect”).

(botany, of leaves) Divided into two at the base.


ficus

(botany) Any plant belonging to the genus Ficus, including the rubber plant.


courtier

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English courteour, from Anglo-Norman corteour, Old French cortoiier, from cort (“court”).

(entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genus Sephisa.


cell membrane

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

(cytology) The semipermeable membrane that surrounds the cytoplasm of a cell.

selmembraan

semipermeable membrane surrounding the cytoplasm of a cell


dominion

en-noun

dominion (countable and uncountable, plural dominions)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: dominion

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: dominion

From Middle English dominion, from Middle French dominion, from Latin dominium (“lordship, right of ownership”), from dominus (“lord”), from domus (“house”). See demain, demesne, domain, dominium.


androgenous

en-adj

androgenous (comparative more androgenous, superlative most androgenous)

more androgenous (comparative)
most androgenous (superlative)

The Leydig cells play a primary role in synthesis of androgenous hormones in gonochoristic fish.

1983, B.J. Duchac et al., “Electron microscopical studies of gonads in primary and secondary males of protogynous hermaphroditic fish”, in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, →DOI:

(biochemistry) Of, pertaining to, or producing androgens; androgenic


thylakoid

From Ancient Greek θύλακος (thúlakos, “sack, bag”) + -oid.

der

(biology) a folded membrane within plant chloroplasts from which grana are made, used in photosynthesis


granum

From the late 19th c., from Latin grānum (“grain, seed or small kernel”). Doublet of corn, grain, gram, and grao.

(biology) A stack-like structure in plant chloroplasts that contain chlorophyll; the site of photosynthesis.


chloroplast

/ˈklɔːɹəʊˌplæst/

(cytology) An organelle, found in the cells of green plants and in photosynthetic algae, where photosynthesis takes place, characterized by a high concentration of chlorophyll and two membranes.


circadian

From the Latin circā (“about”) and diēs (“a day”) with the English suffix -an. Compare circannual.

The circadian clock is involved in the regulation of the diurnal sleep-wake cycle, […].

2000, Arnold Sameroff, et al: Handbook of Developmental Psychopathology, page 310:

To summarize, the circadian system, particularly the SCN, controls the circadian pattern of melatonin release in mammals.

2002, Jill B. Becker, Behavioral Endocrinology, page 483:

The most obvious circadian rhythm is the daily cycle of sleep and activity.

2005, Paul Martin, Counting Sheep: The Science and Pleasures of Sleep and Dreams, page 114:

Circadian clocks developed early in evolution in single-celled organisms, before the animal and plant kingdom split from one another. The original clocks probably functioned to protect the cells from damage induced by high UV radiation.

2014 April 5, “Quite interesting: A quietly intriguing column from the brains behind QI, the BBC quiz show. This week; QI orchids you not”, in The Daily Telegraph (Weekend), page W22:

In addition, the truck driver’s schedule involved sleeping at irregular times, including times when the body’s circadian rhythms are geared toward being awake. He was also awake at times when his circadian rhythms were geared toward being asleep. The time of the crash, about 1:36 a.m., is when sleepiness tends to be greater and performance capabilities are lower.

2024, NTSB, Highway Investigation Report, HIR-24-05:

(biology) Of, relating to, or showing rhythmic behaviour with a period of 24 hours; especially of a biological process.

circadiari

relating to rhythmic behavior with a period of 24 hours


plectrum

plectrums (plural)
plectra (plural)
plectron (alternative)

Borrowed from Latin plēctrum, from Ancient Greek πλῆκτρον (plêktron, “anything to strike with, an instrument for striking the lyre, a spear point”), from πλήσσειν (plḗssein, “to strike, to smite, to sting”).

uder

(anatomy, zoology) A projection of bone or other stiff tissue, such as the ridges in some insects' stridulatory organs.


saprobe

(biology) An organism that lives off of dead or decaying organic material


stipulate

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

af

(botany) Having stipules; that is, having outgrowths borne on either side of the base of the leafstalk.


spinescence

en-noun

spinescence (countable and uncountable, plural spinescences)

(botany) The quality of being spinescent


emasculate

en-verb

emasculate (third-person singular simple present emasculates, present participle emasculating, simple past and past participle emasculated)

emasculates (present singular third-person)
emasculating (participle present)
emasculated (participle past)
emasculated (past)

From Medieval Latin ēmasculātus, perfect passive participle of ēmasculō (“to emasculate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ē(x)- (“out, from, apart”) + masculus (“male, masculine”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), further from mās (“a man, a male”) + -culus (diminutive suffix).

скопявам

to deprive of virile or procreative power; to castrate

It is well understood that in artificial cross-fertilizing, in order to prevent self-fecundation, we emasculate the flower from which we wish to obtain the seeds for new varieties; that is, we remove the anthers from that flower, and in the proper season apply to the stigma the pollen from some other distinct flower.

1854 March, Charles G[rafton] Page, “Article IV. Artificial Fecundation of Flowers. [From the American Polytechnic Journal.]”, in M. Tarver, H. Cobb, editors, The Western Journal and Civilian, Devoted to Agriculture, Manufactures, Mechanic Arts, Internal Improvement, Commerce, Public Policy, and Polite Literature, volume XI (volume V, New Series), number VI, St. Louis, Mo.: Printed by M. Niedner & Co., cor[ner] of Pine & Third Streets, →OCLC, page 409:

Legume flowers are emasculated by removing the corolla, staminal tube, and anthers with small forceps, leaving the pistil intact. Anthers and pollen are sometimes removed from flowers with suction, washed off with a jet of water, or killed by immersing the flower in an alcohol solution or hot water. In crops that have a high degree of self-sterility, such as red clover, it may be unnecessary to emasculate, especially if the pollen parent has a dominant marker gene so that plants originating by self-pollination may be identified.

1987, John Milton Poehlman, “Breeding Forage Crops”, in Breeding Field Crops (An AVI Book), 3rd edition, New York, N.Y.: Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI, →ISBN, page 639:

(transitive, botany) Of a flower: to deprive of the anthers.


baguette

Borrowed from French baguette (“stick”), from Italian bacchetta.

(zoology) One of the minute bodies seen in the divided nucleoli of some Infusoria after conjugation.


thresher

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-der.?
Proto-Germanic *þreskaną
Old English þrescan
Middle English threschen
Middle English -er
Middle English thresshere
English thresher
From Middle English thresshere; equivalent to thresh + -er. The shark's tail is thought to resemble the implement.


kinesis

en-noun

kinesis (usually uncountable, plural kineses)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κίνησις (kínēsis, “motion, movement”).

bor+

(biology) The movement of an organism in response to an external stimulus.

kinesie

the movement of an organism in response to an external stimulus


aliped

From Latin ala (“wing”) and pes (“foot”) (ali- + -ped).

(zoology) A wing-footed animal; a chiropter or a bat.


aliped

(zoology) Wing-footed; having a membrane connecting the digits.


prostrate

From Middle English prostrat(e) (“prostrate”, also used as the past participle of prostraten), borrowed from Latin prōstrātus, perfect passive participle of prōsternō (“to prostrate”). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.

inh

also used as the past participle of <i class="Latn mention" lang="enm">prostraten</i>

(botany) Trailing on the ground; procumbent.


molecular biology

(biology, biochemistry) the branch of biology that studies the macromolecules of life, such as proteins, lipoproteins and nucleic acids

(genetics) the branch of biology that studies the manipulation of genetic sequence of DNA

(genetics) the technology of gene manipulation


molecular biologist

en-noun

molecular biologist (plural molecular biologists)

(biochemistry, genetics) a scientist who specializes in molecular biology


molecular knife

molecular knife (plural molecular knives)

(cytology, molecular biology) An enzyme capable of removing specific genes from a sequence of DNA, especially to disable the replication of a virus.


molecular medicine

(medicine, genetics) the branch of medicine that studies the manipulation of genes, and the subsequent effect on genetic diseases


grenadier

From French grenadier, corresponding to grenade + -ier.

(ornithology) Any of various African weaverbirds or waxbills, especially the common grenadier or the red bishop.

(zoology) Any of various deep-sea fish of the family Macrouridae that have a large head and body and a long tapering tail; a rattail.

(entomology) Either of two red and black libellulid dragonflies, Agrionoptera insignis and Lathrecista asiatica, of Asia and Australia.


amphipathic

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From amphi- + Ancient Greek παθικός (pathikós, “remaining passive in a sexual intercourse”), from Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, “on both sides”).

der

(biochemistry) Of the surface(s) on a protein, particularly an alpha helix, where one surface of the alpha helix has hydrophilic amino acids and the opposite face has hydrophobic (or lipophilic) amino acids.

anfipático

of an alpha helix: having one surface with hydrophilic amino acids and the opposite surface with hydrophobic or lipophilic aminoacids


secondary structure

en-noun

secondary structure (countable and uncountable, plural secondary structures)

(biochemistry) The general three-dimensional structure of a biopolymer such as DNA or a protein.


structural biology

X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography

(chemistry, biology) A branch of biochemistry or biophysics in which the three-dimensional structures of biomolecules, such as proteins, DNA, or RNA, are obtained using X-ray crystallography or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).


biomolecule

Zinc oxide is biosafe and, therefore, there are no toxic effects for biomedical applications that immobilize and modify biomolecules (Kumar and Shen, 2008).

2011, Sam Zhang, Biological and Biomedical Coatings Handbook: Applications, page 343:

In the close vicinity of a chiral nanostructure, the circular dichroism of a biomolecule could be greatly enhanced, due to the interaction with the local superchiral fields.

2016, S. Hamed Shams Mousavi, Sajanlal R. Panikkanvalappil, Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Ali A. Eftekhar, Ali Adibi, “Large Enhancement of Circular Dichroism Using an Embossed Chiral Metamaterial”, in arXiv:

(biochemistry) Molecules, such as amino acids, sugars, nucleic acids, proteins, polysaccharides, DNA, and RNA, that occur naturally in living organisms; any such molecule, even if created outside a living thing (as for example in a test tube or bioreactor).


biopolymer

There are three main classes of biopolymers: polynucleotides (such as RNA and DNA), polypeptides (such as collagen and actin), and polysaccharides (such as cellulose and starch).

Products based on durable biopolymers have begun appearing in the marketplace.

2007 March 21, Susan Moran, “The new bioplastics, more than just forks”, in The New York Times:

CJ Biomaterials was the first company in the world to produce amorphous PHA, it says, which is a softer, rubberier version of PHA that offers fundamentally different performance characteristics than crystalline or semi-crystalline forms of the biopolymer.

2023 June 29, Mike Edwards, “Collaboration leads to eco-friendly straw made with polyhydroxyalkanoate”, in CPECN:

(biochemistry) Any macromolecule of a living organism that is formed from the polymerization of smaller entities; a polymer that occurs in a living organism or results from life.


glycogen

glycogen (countable and uncountable, plural glycogens)

Specifically the liver converts glucose into glycogen — a more compact chemical. It is a little bit like shrink-wrapping food so you can pack more of it into your freezer.

2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 175:

(biochemistry) A polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals; converted to glucose as needed.


semelparous

From Latin semel (“once, a single time”) + pariō (“give birth, produce, bring forth”). Coined by Lamont Cole in 1954.

(biology) Reproducing only once in a lifetime.


iteroparous

From Latin iterum (“again, a second time”) + pariō (“give birth, produce, bring forth”). Coined by Lamont Cole in 1954.

(biology) reproducing more than once in a lifetime


nucleobase

(biochemistry) The base of a nucleic acid, such as thymine, uracil, adenine, cytosine and guanine.

含氮碱基 (hándàn jiǎnjī, literally “nitrogenous base”)


stop codon

(biology, genetics, biochemistry) a sequence of three RNA nucleotides (A, C, G or U) that instruct the synthesis, or translation, of a protein to stop. The three-letter stop codon sequences have been given names: "UAG" is amber, "UGA" is opal, and "UAA" is ochre.

lopetuskodoni

codon that instructs protein synthesis to stop


error catastrophe

error catastrophe (plural error catastrophes)

(biology) The extinction of an organism (usually microorganisms) due to excessive RNA mutations.


decomposer

(ecology) An organism, such as a bacterium or fungus, which carries out the process of decomposition of organic material.


resilin

(biology) An elastic protein found in the exoskeletons of insects, facilitating, for example, folding wings or jumping relatively great distances.


monocotyledonous

Strange to say, the islet of Ronde, about 16 miles north of Mauritius, forms a separate biological kingdom, possessing one peculiar species of cabbage-palm, some lizards, two snakes, and relatively more monocotyledonous plants than any other region in the world.

1890, [Jacques] Élisée Reclus, “The Mascarenhas”, in A. H. Keane, editor, Oceanica (The Earth and Its Inhabitants; 14), New York: D. Appleton and Company, Flora and Fauna:

(botany) Of or pertaining to a flowering plant having a seed with one embryonic leaf (a single cotyledon).

μονοκοτυλήδονος

of or pertaining to a flowering plant having a seed with one embryonic leaf (a single cotyledon)


undifferentiated

en-adj

undifferentiated (comparative more undifferentiated, superlative most undifferentiated)

more undifferentiated (comparative)
most undifferentiated (superlative)

This further exacerbated the diagnostic challenge posed by undifferentiated febrile illness during a “twindemic” of both COVID-19 and dengue, as both illnesses could potentially present with febrile syndromes.

2022 May 7, Liang En WeeEdwin Philip ConceicaoJean Xiang-Ying SimMay Kyawt AungAung Myat Ooet al., “Dengue and COVID-19: Managing Undifferentiated Febrile Illness during a ‘Twindemic’”, in Tropical medicine and infectious disease, →DOI:

(biology) describes tissues where the individual cells have not yet developed mature or distinguishing features, or describes embryonic organisms where the organs cannot be identified.

(botany) Describes a plant body where the vascular tissue has not developed, as in the thallophytes.


bryophyte

/ˈbɹʌɪ̯.əˌfʌɪt/

From Bryophyta, from Ancient Greek βρύον (brúon, “moss”) + φυτόν (phutón, “plant”) ( + -phyte).

Without going into their reasons, Bold, Alexopoulos, & DelBevoryas (1980) and Crandall-Stotler (1980) believe that there are at least three independent lines of bryophytes and that this is best reflected by establishing three divisions - the Bryophyta (mosses), Hepatophyta (liverworts), and Anthocerotophyta (hornworts).

1993, Wilson Nichols Stewart, Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants, page 77:

2002, William R. Buck, Bryophytes, entry in Niles Eldredge (editor), Life on Earth, page 202,
Because of their small size and often delicate structure, bryophytes have a poor fossil record, dating back only about 290 million years.

And so it was that I was introduced to Len Ellis and the quiet world of bryophytes – mosses to the rest of us.

2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, published 2003, page 312:

(botany) Any plant of the division Bryophyta, defined sensu lato to comprise the mosses, liverworts and hornworts and corresponding to all embryophytes that are not vascular plants.

briofito

member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort


pleomorphic

pleomorphic (comparative more pleomorphic, superlative most pleomorphic)

more pleomorphic (comparative)
most pleomorphic (superlative)

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Of, related to, or exhibiting pleomorphism.

(biology, especially microbiology) Having a lifecycle whose stages involve embodiment in diverse forms.


declivity

1610s, from French déclivité, from Latin declivitatem, dēclīvitās,
from dēclivis (“a sloping downward”), from de (“down”) + clīvus (“a slope”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱleywo-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (“to lean”) (English lean).

1979, Entomology Circular, Issue 200, Part 366, Division of Plant Industry, page number not shown,
Males of all species have more developed armature of the elytral declivity than females (Figs. S, 6, 8, 9, 11-14).

Propodeum in profile with upper lobe of declivity elongate and narrow, subspiniform, almost as long as lower lobe.

2000, Barry Bolton, “The Ant Tribe Dacetini”, in American Entomological Institute, volume 65, number 2, page 500:

(entomology) An inward curve of the exoskeleton of an insect, such as between body segments; a segment of an insect's body where the exoskeleton curves inward.


pleomorphism

en-noun

pleomorphism (countable and uncountable, plural pleomorphisms)

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

(biology) The occurrence of multiple structural forms during the life cycle of an organism.


life cycle

life cycles (plural)
lifecycle (alternative)

→ Japanese: ライフサイクル (raifusaikuru)

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Plants’ life cycles are an attractive subject of study for citizen science because they are relatively easy to discern. In fact, the name for the field in which we work, phenology, literally means “the science of appearance.” The word was coined just a few years after Thoreau made his phenological observations, from the Greek phaino (to show or appear) and logos (to study).

2013 September-October, Kayri Havens, Sandra Henderson, “Citizen Science Takes Root”, in American Scientist:

(biology) The course of stages through which an organism passes from fertilized zygote until maturity, reproduction, and death.


follicle

(botany) A type of primitive dry fruit produced by certain flowering plants.


nitrogen fixation

(biochemistry, organic chemistry) the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia and organic derivatives, by natural means, especially such conversion, by microorganisms in the soil, into a form that can be assimilated by plants