evolve

en-verb

evolve (third-person singular simple present evolves, present participle evolving, simple past and past participle evolved)

evolves (present singular third-person)
evolving (participle present)
evolved (participle past)
evolved (past)

Borrowed from Latin ēvolvō (“unroll, unfold”), from ē- (“out of”) (short form of ex) + volvō (“roll”).

Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.

2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 2013-09-03:

How long ago did birds evolve beaks?

Of a population: to acquire or develop (a trait) in the process of biological evolution.

A hundred thousand years from now, will Homo sapiens have evolved into beings unrecognizable to their ancestors?

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Recapitulation and Conclusion”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 490:

The ice age was nearly two million years old by the time the woolly mammoth evolved.

2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 204:

(chiefly passive voice) To cause (a population, a species, etc.) to change genetic composition over successive generations through the process of evolution.

How long ago did beaks evolve?

(biology) Of a trait; to develop within a population through biological evolution.


evolution

en-noun

evolution (countable and uncountable, plural evolutions)

extinction

antonym(s) of “survival through adaptation”

/ɛvəˈlʉːʃən/

Borrowed from Latin ēvolūtiō, ēvolūtiōnis (“the act of unrolling, unfolding or opening (of a book)”), from ēvolūtus, perfect passive participle of ēvolvō (“unroll, unfold”), from ex + volvō (“roll”).
Compare typologically Czech vývoj, Serbo-Croatian развој, Russian разви́ть (razvítʹ), развива́ть (razvivátʹ), разви́ться (razvítʹsja), развива́ться (razvivátʹsja), Russian разви́тие (razvítije), related to Proto-Slavic *viti (whence Czech vít, Russian вить (vitʹ)).

تَطَوُّر

general: a gradual process of development

[…]and thus he [Lamarck] was inclined to assert the priority of the types of marine animals to those of the terrestrial, and to fancy, for example, that the testacea of the ocean existed first, until some of them, by gradual evolution, were improved into those inhabiting the land.

1832, Charles Lyell, chapter I, in Principles of Geology […] , volume II, London: John Murray, page 11:

[Some books have] made the erroneous assumption that the important thing in evolution is the good of the species (or the group) rather than the good of the individual (or the gene).

1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene:

Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.

2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

(biology) The transformation of animals, plants and other living things into different forms (now understood as a change in genetic composition) by the accumulation of changes over successive generations.

evolusie

biology: change in the genetic composition of a population over time


transform

en-verb

transform (third-person singular simple present transforms, present participle transforming, simple past and past participle transformed)

transforms (present singular third-person)
transforming (participle present)
transformed (participle past)
transformed (past)
xform (alternative)

From Middle English transformen, from Old French transformer, from Latin transformo, transformare, from trans (“across”, preposition) + forma (“form”).

(transitive, genetics) To subject (a cell) to transformation.

transformieren

in genetics: subject (a cell) to transformation


transformation

en-noun

transformation (countable and uncountable, plural transformations)

Inherited from Middle English transformacioun, from Middle French, from Ecclesiastical Latin trānsfōrmātiō.
Morphologically transform + -ation

inh+

(genetics) The alteration of a bacterial cell caused by the transfer of DNA from another, especially if pathogenic.

muutos

genetics: alteration of a bacterial cell caused by the transfer of DNA


native

en-adj

native (comparative more native, superlative most native)

more native (comparative)
most native (superlative)
natiue (alternative)
natyf (alternative)

foreign

born or grown in the region in which it is found

Inherited from Middle English natif, from Old French natif, from Latin nātīvus, from nātus (“birth”). Doublet of naive and neif.

The naturalized Norway maple often outcompetes the native North American sugar maple.

(biology, of a species) Which occurs of its own accord in a given locality, to be contrasted with a species introduced by humans.

autokton

biology: which occurs of its own accord in a given locality


cleistogamy

From Ancient Greek κλειστός (kleistós, “closed”) + -gamy.

der

(botany) The production of flowers which do not open and are self-fertilized in the bud.

cleistogamia

the production of flowers which do not open, and are self-fertilized in the bud


dracaena

From the genus name Dracaena, from Latin dracaena, from Ancient Greek δράκαινᾰ (drákaină, “she-dragon”).

“Again with this?” I groaned to the dracaenae. (“Talk to them!” numerous readers advised.) The plants chuckled and shook their heads. No they didn’t. They’re plants!

2022 October 29, Melissa Kirsch, “Garden Varieties”, in The New York Times:

(botany) Any of the genus Dracaena of liliaceous plants with woody stems and funnel-shaped flowers.


lacerate

From Middle English laceraten, from Latin lacerātus, past participle of lacerō.

The bract at the base is dry and papery, often lacerate near its apex.

(botany) Jagged, as if torn or lacerated.


bilirubin

en-noun

bilirubin (countable and uncountable, plural bilirubins)

From international scientific vocabulary, from German Bilirubin. By surface analysis, bili- + rub- + -in. The German word was naturalized into other languages as international scientific vocabulary (e.g., bilirubin, bilirubine, bilirubina).

The doctors said this was very common, just her new-born liver catching up with the rest of her — the build-up of bilirubin in her blood. The substance red blood cells produce when broken down.

2022, Maddie Mortimer, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, Picador, page 339:

(biochemistry) A bile pigment that is a product of the breakdown of the heme portion of hemoglobin (which occurs within macrophages as they digest red blood cells), and which is responsible for the yellowish color seen in bruises. Extremely high levels of bilirubin may cause jaundice.

bilirubin
international scientific vocabulary


breakdown

breakdown (countable and uncountable, plural breakdowns)

breakdowns (plural)
break-down (alternative)

sınma

failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature

(veterinary medicine, uncountable) Injury to a horse's leg causing lameness; (countable) an instance of this.

jalkavamma

injury to a horse’s leg causing lameness; an instance of this


eccentric

en-adj

eccentric (comparative more eccentric, superlative most eccentric)

more eccentric (comparative)
most eccentric (superlative)
eccentrick (alternative)
excentric (alternative)
excentrick (alternative)

concentric

antonym(s) of “against the contraction of a muscle”

→ Japanese: エキセントリック (ekisentorikku)

From Middle French excentrique, from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Ancient Greek ἔκκεντρος (ékkentros, “not having the earth as the center of an orbit”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “point”). Equivalent to ex- + -centric.

der

Oospores may be centric, subcentric, subeccentric or eccentric. Antheridial branches may or may not be present, and are androgynous, monoclinous, diclinous or hypogynous.

2014, Nicky B. Buller, Bacteria and Fungi From Fish and Other Aquatic Animals: A Practical Identification Manual, 2nd edition, Boston, M.A.: CABI, →ISBN, page 687:

(mycology) Having or being an oospore with a single large oil globule on one side that displaces much of the ooplasm and forces the ooplasts to one side.


macrophage

From macro- + -phage, both from Ancient Greek.

innate immune system
innate immune system

(immunology, cytology) A white blood cell that phagocytizes necrotic cell debris and foreign material, including viruses, bacteria, and tattoo ink. It presents foreign antigens on MHC II to lymphocytes. Part of the innate immune system.


nerve

Recorded since circa 1374 as Middle English nerve, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew.

Some plants have ornamental value because of their contrasting nerves.

(botany) A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood.


ruminate

1533, "to turn over in the mind," also "to chew cud" (1547), from Latin rūminātus, perfect active participle of rūminārī (“to chew the cud, turn over in the mind”), from rūmen (“the throat, gullet”), of uncertain origin.

a ruminate endosperm

(botany) Having a hard albumen penetrated by irregular channels filled with softer matter, as the nutmeg and the seeds of the North American papaw.


sheath

From Middle English sheth, shethe (“holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath”) [and other forms], from Old English sċēaþ (“sheath”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþiju, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþiz (“sheath; covering”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect, split”) (possibly from the notion of a split stick with a sword inserted).
The English word is cognate with Danish skede, Dutch schede, Icelandic skeið, German Scheide, Low German scheed, Norwegian skjede.

nb...

chethe, scǽð, scaþ, schede, schete, scheth, schethe, seaþ, seeth, seth, sethe, shæþ, shede, sheethe, sheith, (Southwest) ssethe, sseþe, (early forms) scæðe, scaþe, seaþe

der

(botany) The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a branch or stem, as in grasses.

(entomology) One of the elytra of an insect.

(zoology) The foreskin of certain animals (for example, dogs and horses).


connective

From connect + -ive, modeled after French connectif, from New Latin connectivus, from connectō (“I connect”); compare connect, connexive, connectivum, connection.

(botany) The tissue which connects the locules of an anthers together.


present

en-verb

present (third-person singular simple present presents, present participle presenting, simple past and past participle presented)

presents (present singular third-person)
presenting (participle present)
presented (participle past)
presented (past)
præsent (alternative)
ps. (alternative)

From Middle English presenten, from Old French presenter, from Latin praesentāre (“to show”), from praesent-, praesens, present participle of praeesse (“be in front of”).

(intransitive, zoology) To display one's female genitalia in a way that signals to others that one is ready for copulation. Also referred to as lordosis behaviour.


heme

en-noun

heme (countable and uncountable, plural hemes)

hemes (plural)
haem (alternative)
haeme (alternative)

The binding of oxygen to the iron molecule causes the hemoglobin molecule to undergo conformational changes that affect the binding of oxygen to other heme sites.

2008, John Greer, John Foerster, George Rodgers, Fixos Paraskevas, Bertil Glader, Daniel Arber, Robert Means Jr, Wintrobe's Clinical Hematology: Volume One: Twelfth Edition, page 141

Impossible's breakthrough was in discovering that meat's essence comes from heme—the iron-rich molecule in blood that carries oxygen and is responsible for the deep-red color.

2018, Ruth Reichl, Silvia Killingsworth, The Best American Food Writing 2018, Mariner Books, →ISBN, page 152:

(biochemistry) The component of hemoglobin (and other hemoproteins) responsible for binding oxygen. It consists of an iron ion that binds oxygen and a porphyrin ring that binds the globin molecules; one molecule binds one molecule of oxygen.


nondescript

en-adj

nondescript (comparative more nondescript, superlative most nondescript)

more nondescript (comparative)
most nondescript (superlative)
non-descript (alternative)

From non- + descript (from Latin dēscrīptus, past participle of dēscrībō).

(biology, now rare) Not described (in the academic literature).


nondescript

nondescripts (plural)
non-descript (alternative)

Imagination has given figure and character to centaurs, satyrs, and down to all the fairy tribe; but titles baffle even the powers of fancy, and are a chimerical non-descript.

(chiefly biology) A species or other type of creature that has not been previously described or identified.


trans

Borrowed from Latin trāns (“on the other side of”). Doublet of très.

bor+

endoplasmic reticulum
endoplasmic reticulum

(cytology) Of the side of the Golgi apparatus farther from the endoplasmic reticulum.


vagina

en-noun

vagina (plural vaginas or vaginae or (obsolete) vaginæ)

vaginas (plural)
vaginae (plural)
vaginæ (obsolete plural)

Learned borrowing from Latin vāgīna (“a sheath, scabbard; a covering, sheath, holder”).

lbor

زهگیر sg (zehgir, literally “semen-gatherer”)

urogenital sinus - embryological precursors

(anatomy) A sex organ leading from the vulval vestibule/urogenital sinus to the cervix of the uterus for copulation and birth in female therian mammals.

(zootomy) A similar part in some invertebrates and non-mammalian amniotes.

(botany) A sheathlike structure, such as the leaf of a grass that surrounds a stem.


caulis

Learned borrowing from Latin caulis. Doublet of cole, gobi, and kale.

(botany) The stalk of a plant, especially a herbaceous stem in its natural state.


cauline

(botany) Growing immediately on a caulis, the main stem of a plant; of or pertaining to a caulis.

caulinar

growing immediately on a caulis; of or pertaining to a caulis


phase

From New Latin phasis, from Ancient Greek φάσις (phásis, “an appearance”), from φάω (pháō, “to shine”); compare phantasm and see face.

vaihe

rugby union: period of play between breakdowns

(zoology) In certain organisms, one of two or more colour variations characteristic of the species, but independent of the ordinary seasonal and sexual differences, and often also of age.


phase

en-verb

phase (third-person singular simple present phases, present participle phasing, simple past and past participle phased)

phases (present singular third-person)
phasing (participle present)
phased (participle past)
phased (past)

(genetics, informal, transitive) To determine haplotypes in (data) when genotypes are known.


pleat

From Middle English, from a variant of plait, from Old French pleit. Doublet of plait.

(botany) A fold in an organ, usually a longitudinal fold in a long leaf such as that of palmetto, lending it stiffness.


aculeate

en-adj

aculeate (comparative more aculeate, superlative most aculeate)

more aculeate (comparative)
most aculeate (superlative)

(entomology) Having a stinger; stinging.


aculeus

Many plants, like many animals, are furnished with arms for their protection; these are either aculei, prickles, as in rose and barberry, which are formed from the outer bark of the plant; or spinæ, thorns […].

1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, page 15:

(botany) A sharp spike or other projection growing on a plant, as in some brambles and roses.


acuminate

acuminate (comparative more acuminate, superlative most acuminate)

more acuminate (comparative)
most acuminate (superlative)
accuminate (alternative)

From Late Latin acuminatus, past participle of acuminare (“to sharpen to a point”).

(botany, mycology) Tapering to a long point in concave manner at its apex.

pitkäsuippuinen

botany, mycology: tapering to a long point in concave manner


acutifoliate

From Latin acutifolius, from acutus (“sharp”) + folium (“leaf”).


axillary

Alteration by association with -ary of the French axillaire (“of the axilla”), itself an alteration of the earlier forms aisselliere and aissellaire, both from the assumed Latin etymon *axillāris, from axilla (“armpit”), diminutive form of the assumed *axula.

(botany) Situated in, or rising from, an axil; relating to an axil.


axilla

Borrowed from Latin axilla (“side, armpit”). Doublet of axil.

(entomology) The area that is located posterior to the transscutal articulation and anterior to the scutoscutellar suture.

(botany, uncommon) Alternative form of axil


axil

Near-synonyms: crotch, fork

Black crowberry. Empetrum nigrum. Crowberry Family. Fruit. — The black drupe is berrylike, globular, and incloses six to nine seedlike nutlets with a seed in each. The calyx is at the base and the stigma is at the apex. The drupes are solitary in the leaf axils. They are juicy, acid, edible, and serve as food for the Arctic birds.

1905, Maude Gridley Peterson, How to Know Wild Fruits: A Guide to Plants When Not in Flower by Means of Fruit and Leaf (in English), Macmillan, page 202:

(botany) The angle or point of divergence between the upper side of a branch, leaf, or petiole, and the stem or branch from which it springs.


axial

axial (comparative more axial, superlative most axial)

more axial (comparative)
most axial (superlative)
axical (alternative)

The secondary xylem usually consists of axial and radial elements.

(botany) In the same direction as the axis, parallel to the axis.

aksiaalinen

botany: in the same direction as the axis


axial

(ornithology) A flight feather that appears between the primaries and secondaries on some birds.


awl

From Middle English aul, alle, al, from Old English æl, from Proto-West Germanic *al, from Proto-Germanic *alaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ólos. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Äil (“awl”), Dutch aal (“awl”), German Low German Ahl (“awl”), German Ahle (“awl”), Icelandic alur (“awl”). Spelling was influenced by the Old English synonym awel, awul (“awl”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahwal, from Proto-Germanic *ahwalaz (“fork, hook”), of unknown origin. Doublet of elsen.

(entomology) Any of various hesperiid butterflies.


avenious

(botany) Being without veins or nerves, as the leaves of certain plants.


avidity

en-noun

avidity (usually uncountable, plural avidities)

From Middle English avidite, from Old French avidite (modern French avidité), from Latin aviditās (“avidity, covetousness”), equivalent to avid + -ity.

der

(biochemistry) The measure of the synergism of the strength of individual interactions between proteins.


palate

From Middle English palate, from Latin palātum (“roof of the mouth, palate”), perhaps of Etruscan origin.

bor

(anatomy) The roof of the mouth, separating the cavities of the mouth and nose in vertebrates.

(zoology) A part associated with the mouth of certain invertebrates, somewhat analogous to the palate of vertebrates.

(entomology, rare) The hypopharynx of an insect.

(botany) A projection in the throat of certain bilabiate flowers as the snapdragon.


specter

From Middle French spectre, from Latin spectrum (“appearance, apparition”). Doublet of spectrum.

der

(entomology) Any of certain species of dragonfly of the genus Boyeria, family Aeshnidae. [from 20th c.]


forget-me-not

Calque of Middle French ne m'oubliez mie or German Vergissmeinnicht.

calque

(entomology) Any of various light-blue coloured lycaenid butterflies of the Asian and Australasian genus Catochrysops, especially Catochrysops strabo native to India and Southeast Asia.


prolific

en-adj

prolific (comparative more prolific, superlative most prolific)

more prolific (comparative)
most prolific (superlative)
prolifick (alternative)

1640–1650: from French prolifique, from Latin proles (“offspring”) and facere (“to make”).

fecund

producing offspring or fruit in abundance

(botany) Of a flower: from which another flower is produced.


nutcracker

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

(ornithology) Either of two birds of the genus Nucifraga in the crow family.


skeleton

skeletons (plural)
skeleta (plural)
sceleton (alternative)

From New Latin sceleton, from Ancient Greek σκελετόν (skeletón), the neuter of σκελετός (skeletós, “dried up, withered, dried body, parched, mummy”), from σκέλλω (skéllō, “dry, dry up, make dry, parch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- (“to parch, wither”); compare Ancient Greek σκληρός (sklērós, “hard”).

der

However interesting the skeleton of a leaf that has been bleached by nature may be, it cannot be alleged to be beautiful in colour, and therefore it is not of much value for the purposes of household decoration.

1870, Robert Kemp Philp, Best of everything, by the author of 'Enquire within'., page 336:

Rather than abstracting the leaf from the outline of the leaf, I can begin by working from the skeleton of the leaf.

2010, Ruth B. McDowell, Piecing: Expanding The Basics:

This is going to get rid of all the green leafy debris sticking to the skeleton of the leaf and you are going to find a really attractive fiber network of your leaf.

2016, Dueep Jyot Singh, John Davidson, Mendon Cottage Books, Skeleton Leaves - Preserving Leaves for Everlasting Beauty, page 10:

(botany) The network of veins in a leaf.


range

Japanese: レンジ (renji)

Korean: 레인지 (reinji)

From Middle English rengen, from Old French rengier (“to range, to rank, to order,”), from the noun renc, reng, ranc, rang (“a rank, row”), from Frankish *hring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“ring, circle, curve”). Doublet of ring.

(ecology) The geographical area or zone where a species is normally naturally found.


range

en-verb

range (third-person singular simple present ranges, present participle ranging, simple past and past participle ranged)

ranges (present singular third-person)
ranging (participle present)
ranged (participle past)
ranged (past)

The peba ranges from Texas to Paraguay.

(biology) To be native to, or live in, a certain district or region.

olla kotoisin

to be native to, or live in, a certain region


column

From Middle English columne, columpne, columpe, borrowed from Old French columne, from Latin columna (“a column, pillar, post”), originally a collateral form of columen, contraction culmen (“a pillar, top, crown, summit”). Akin to Latin collis (“a hill”), celsus (“high”), probably to Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn, “top, summit”).

cog

a little from column A and a little from column B


WAP

en-noun

WAP (countable and uncountable, plural WAPs)

whey acidic protein
whey acidic protein#English

(biochemistry) Initialism of whey acidic protein.


determinant

(biology) A substance that causes a cell to adopt a particular fate.

(genetics) Something that causes a nuclease to cut at a specified point


bleach

en-verb

bleach (third-person singular simple present bleaches, present participle bleaching, simple past and past participle bleached)

bleaches (present singular third-person)
bleaching (participle present)
bleached (participle past)
bleached (past)

From Middle English blechen, from Old English blǣċan (“to bleach, whiten”), from Proto-West Germanic *blaikijan, from Proto-Germanic *blaikijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine”).
Cognate with Dutch bleken (“to bleach”), German bleichen (“to bleach”), Danish blege, Swedish bleka (“to bleach”). Related to Old English blāc (“pale”) (English blake; compare also bleak).

inh

Once coral bleaching begins, corals tend to continue to bleach even if the stressor is removed.

(intransitive, biology, of corals) To lose color due to stress-induced expulsion of symbiotic unicellular algae.


bladder

bladders (plural)
blather (alternative)
blether (alternative)

From Middle English bladdre, bleddre, bladder, bledder, from Old English blæddre, a variant of blǣdre, blēdre (“blister, bladder”), from Proto-West Germanic *blādrā, from Proto-Germanic *blēdrǭ, *bladrǭ (“blister, bladder”).

urogenital sinus - embryological precursor

(zoology) A flexible sac that can expand and contract and that holds liquids or gases.

(botany) A hollow, inflatable organ of a plant.


beak

en-noun

beak (countable and uncountable, plural beaks)

From Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish *bekkos, from Proto-Celtic *bekkos (“beak, snout”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Breton beg (“beak”). Compare Saterland Frisian Bäk (“mouth; muzzle; beak”); Dutch bek (“beak; bill; neb”).

cog

(botany) Any process somewhat like the beak of a bird, terminating the fruit or other parts of a plant.

(entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Libythea, notable for the beak-like elongation on their heads.


carnivore

Borrowed from French carnivore, from Latin carnivorus. In the zoological sense, coined by William Whewell in 1840 as an adaptation of Cuvier's coinage, French carnivore.

The panda and the panther are both carnivores.

(zoology) A mammal belonging to the order Carnivora.


sorbitol

en-noun

sorbitol (countable and uncountable, plural sorbitols)

From earlier sorbite (from sorb + -ite) + -ol. By surface analysis, sorb + -itol.

(biochemistry) A faintly sweet alcohol C₆H₁₄O₆ that occurs in some fruits, is made synthetically, and is used especially as a humectant and softener and in making ascorbic acid.


founder

From Old French fondeur, from Latin fundātor, equivalent to found + -er.

etymid

establisher, from _fundo_ as pour-melt-etc

kantaisä

someone for whose parents one has no data

a founder population

the founder effect

The sickle cell mutation today can be found in five different haplotypes, leading to the conclusion that the mutation appeared independently five times in five different founders.

2006 June 1, Dennis Drayna, “Founder Mutations”, in Scientific American, New York, N.Y.: Springer Nature America, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-07:

Among the Ashkenazi Jews in the positive group, 81 percent had one of the three founder mutations, suggesting that 23andMe's test could be helpful for them.

2019 April 16, Heather Murphy, “Don’t Count on 23andMe to Detect Most Breast Cancer Risks, Study Warns”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-10-13:

The gene mutation is likely to have come from a founder individual who lived at least 250 years ago, the paper published in the European Journal of Human Genetics said.

2023 March 16, Nadeem Badshah, “One in a hundred people with Orkney heritage have gene increasing risk of cancer”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-05:

(genetics) A common ancestor of some population (especially one with a certain genetic mutation).


founder

From Middle French fondrer (“send to the bottom”), from Latin fundus (“bottom”).

uder

(veterinary medicine) A severe laminitis of a horse, caused by untreated internal inflammation in the hooves.


dark matter

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

dark matter
en:Fritz Zwicky
en:Vera Rubin

Calque of German Dunkle Materie, from dunkel (“dark”) and Materie (“matter”). Coined by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky in German in 1933, to account for the apparent mass needed to account for galaxy clusters, where the mass of luminous matter did not add up to enough of a gravitational effect, inferring nonluminous matter must exist to account for the missing mass. The term gained new popularity due to the missing mass found in galaxies to account for galaxy rotation curves discovered by Vera Rubin in research published in English in the 1970s.

(biology, informal) Unclassified or poorly understood genetic material.


clone

→ Italian: clone

→ Polish: klon

→ Turkish: klon

Coined (in botany) in 1903, based on Ancient Greek κλών (klṓn, “twig”). Figurative use from the 1970s.

(cytology) A group of identical cells derived from a single cell.


pod

Origin uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English *pod ("seed-pod, husk, shell, outer covering"; attested in pod-ware (“legume seed; seed grain”)), itself possibly from Old English pād (“an outer garment, covering, coat, cloak”), from Proto-West Germanic *paidu, from Proto-Germanic *paidō (“coat, smock, shirt”), from Proto-Indo-European *baiteh₂- (“woolen clothes”). If so, then cognate with Old Saxon pēda (“skirt”), German dialectal Pfeid, Pfeit (“shirt”), Gothic 𐍀𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌰 (paida, “mantle, skirt”), and perhaps Albanian petk (“gown, garment, dress, suit”) and Ancient Greek βαίτη (baítē, “goat-skin, fur-coat, tent”).

unc

uncertain

gloss

"seed-pod, husk, shell, outer covering"; attested in <i class="Latn mention" lang="enm">pod-ware</i> (“legume seed; seed grain”)

ncog

(botany) A seed case for legumes (e.g. peas, beans, peppers); a seedpod.

(collective, zoology) A group of whales, dolphins, seals, porpoises or hippopotami.


oblique

en-adj

oblique (comparative obliquer, superlative obliquest)

obliquer (comparative)
obliquest (superlative)

From Middle French oblique, from Latin oblīquus (also spelled oblīcus) (“slanting, sideways, indirect, envious”).

uder

Leaves long, lanceolate, tapering upward from the middle to an acute point, […] secondaries very oblique, distinct, alternate, parallel, curved in transversing the blade

1892, Leo Lesquereux, The Flora of the Dakota Group, page 78:

(botany, of leaves) Having the base of the blade asymmetrical, with one side lower than the other.

Oblique and sinker roots will normally be under a greater compression stress than lateral roots.

1997, A. Stokes, D. Guitard, “Tree Root Response to Mechanical Stress”, in Arie Altman, Yoav Waisel, editors, Biology of Root Formation and Development, page 233:

(botany, of branches or roots) Growing at an angle that is neither vertical nor horizontal.


keel

From Middle English kele, from Old Norse kjǫlr, itself from Proto-Germanic *keluz, of uncertain origin. Displaced Old English ċēol from a related root. Distantly related to kile.

Metanotum shining, indistinctly punctured at the base in the centre, the sides closely punctured; the areola large, obliquely narrowed at the base, its apex open, there are 2 lateral areas, both widely open at the base on the outerside; the posterior median area bears about 10 stout, transverse keels; on its apical outerside is a triangular area; the spiracular is bounded on the outerside by a distinct keel.

1906, Records of the Albany Museum - Volume 1, page 314:

(zoology) The periphery of a whorl extended to form a more or less flattened plate; a prominent spiral ridge.

Vegetatively it is the nearest to H. translucens with its oblong-lanceolate leaves, with the margins and keel beset with pellucid teeth, but it differs and is characterised by the greyish-black quadrantly positioned globose flowers; […]

1985, Charles L. Scott, The Genus Haworthia (Liliaceae): A Taxonomic Revision, page 80:

(botany) The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and enclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina.


clava

(entomology) The fused distal segments of the antenna of a chalcid wasp.


primate

From French primate, from Latin primas (“one of the first, chief, excellent, noble”). So named due to the belief that primates are the highest order of mammals or animals. First attested in 1876.

der

Primates range from lemurs to gorillas.

(zoology) A mammal of the order Primates, including apes, monkeys, lemurs, tarsiers, lorisids, and galagos.


section

From Middle English seccioun, from Old French section, from Latin sectiō (“cutting, cutting off, excision, amputation of diseased parts of the body, etc.”), from sectus, past participle of secāre (“to cut”). More at saw.

разрэ́з

surgery: incision or the act of making an incision

(botany) A taxonomic rank below the genus (and subgenus if present), but above the species.

(zoology) An informal taxonomic rank below the order ranks and above the family ranks.


frame

→ Korean: 프레임 (peureim)

→ Swahili: fremu

From Middle English frame (“profit, benefit, advantage; a structure composed according to a plan”), from the verb (above) and also from Old Norse frami (“advantage, fame, bravery, efficiency, privilege, honor”); and frame (“a framework or structure of any kind”) which is of uncertain origin. The latter is usually regarded as a derivative of former; however, compare the rare Anglo-Norman and Old French frame, fraine (“frame, framework”), itself of uncertain origin, which might be a borrowing from the English, from the Norse, or even possibly ultimately from Frankish *hramu (“frame”) related to Dutch raam (“window frame”).

der

(genetics, "reading frame") A way of dividing nucleotide sequences into a set of consecutive triplets.


jugular

/ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.jʊl.ə/

/ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.jəl.ɚ/

/ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.əl.ɚ/

Late 16th century borrowing from Late Latin jugulāris, from jugulum (“the collarbone; the hollow part of the neck above the collarbone; the throat”) + -āris (“-ar, -ary”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to jugulum + -ar.

af

(zootomy, of fish) Having ventral fins attached under the throat.


blockade

From block + -ade, probably after Dutch blocquade (now blokkade) or German Blockade.

blockage

nearly synonymous, but not interchangeably; blockade usually denotes human agency

beta-blockade

chemical messengers
chemical messenger#English

(biology, medicine) Inhibition of the activity (function) of chemical messengers or their receptors, such as (often) receptor antagonism.


costa

Unadapted borrowing from Latin costa (“a rib”). Doublet of coast.

ubor

(botany, zootomy) A riblike part of a plant or animal, such as a midrib of a leaf or a thickened vein or the margin of an insect wing.

(entomology) The vein forming the leading edge of most insect wings.


polyandry

en-noun

polyandry (usually uncountable, plural polyandries)

(zoology) The mating pattern whereby a female copulates with plural males.


nursery

nursery (countable and uncountable, plural nurseries)

Carolina Stanley
Fritz von Uhde
Kunsthalle Hamburg
María Eugenia Vidal

From Middle English noricerie, norserye (“children's nursery; state of being fostered or nursed; education, upbringing”) [and other forms], from Old French norricerie, nourricerie, from norrice, nourrice (modern French nourrice (“childminder, nanny; wet nurse”)) + -erie (suffix forming feminine nouns). Norrice and nourrice are derived from Late Latin nūtrīcia (“wet nurse”), from Latin nūtrīcius (“that nurses or suckles; nourishing”), from nūtriō (“to breastfeed, nurse, suckle”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (“to flow”). The English word may be analysed as nourice, nurse + -ery (suffix forming nouns meaning ‘place of’).

refn

From the collection of the Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

nb...

norceri, norcerie, norcery, norcerye, norisri, norisrie, norisserie, norisserye, norserie, norserye, norsheri, norshery, norysrye, nursery

де́тска я́сла

place where nursing or the raising of children is carried out

разса́дник

(countable, also figuratively) A place where anything is fostered and growth promoted.

(agriculture, zoology) A place where animals breed, or where young animals are naturally or artificially reared (for example, on a farm).


pouch

From Middle English pouche, poche, borrowed from Old Northern French pouche, from Old French poche, puche (whence French poche; compare also the Anglo-Norman variant poke), of Germanic origin: from Frankish *poka (“pouch”) (compare Middle Dutch poke, Old English pohha, dialectal German Pfoch). Doublet of poke; compare pocket.

(zoology) An organic pocket in which a marsupial carries its young.

trastë

(botany) A silicle, or short pod, as of the shepherd's purse.


rank

en-noun

rank (countable and uncountable, plural ranks)

From Middle English rank (“line, row”), from Old French ranc, rang, reng (“line, row, rank”) (Modern French rang), from Frankish *hring (“ring”), from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“something bent or curved”).
Akin to Old High German (h)ring, Old Frisian hring, Old English hring, hrincg (“ring”), Old Norse hringr (“ring, circle, queue, sword; ship”). Doublet of ring and rink.

cog

Phylum is the taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class.

(taxonomy) A level in a scientific taxonomy system.


selection

en-noun

selection (countable and uncountable, plural selections)

From Latin sēlēctiō (“the act of choosing out, selection”), from sēlēctus, perfect passive participle of sēligō (“choose out, select”), from sē- (“apart”) + legō (“gather, select”).

der

(biology) The stage of a genetic algorithm in which individual genomes are chosen from a population for later breeding. ᵂᵖ

Slow though the process of selection may be, if feeble man can do much by his powers of artificial selection, I can see no limit to the amount of change, to the beauty and infinite complexity of the coadaptations between all organic beings, one with another and with their physical conditions of life, which may be effected in the long course of time by nature’s power of selection.

1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Natural Selection”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 109:

natural selection
natural selection#English

(biology) Ellipsis of natural selection.


population

Borrowed from Late Latin populatio (“a people, multitude”), as if a noun of action from Classical Latin populus. Doublet of poblacion.

bor+

invånarantal (often expressed as "har X invånare" instead)

A seasonal migration annually changes the populations in two or more biotopes drastically, many twice in opposite senses.

Within and among populations of grindelias, some morphologic traits appear to vary more from plant to plant than in most genera of composites.

2006, Flora of North America, North of Mexico:

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:

The tunnel was retired from operational service on September 3 1966. Since then, like many other tunnels, it has been left unused and unloved, apart from by the resident bat population.

2023 November 29, Peter Plisner, “The winds of change in Catesby Tunnel”, in RAIL, number 997, page 56:

(biology) A collection of organisms of a particular species, sharing a particular characteristic of interest, most often that of living in a given area.


skullcap

skullcaps (plural)
skull cap (alternative)
skull-cap (alternative)

(botany) Any of several species of flowering plants of the genus Scutellaria, in the Lamiaceae family.


tag

From Middle English tagge (“small piece hanging from a garment”), probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Norwegian tagg (“point; prong; barb; tag”), Swedish tagg (“thorn; prickle; tine”), Icelandic tág (“a willow-twig”). Compare also tack.

cog

(biochemistry) Any short peptide sequence artificially attached to proteins mostly in order to help purify, solubilize or visualize these proteins.

merkkipeptidi

biochemistry: short peptide sequence artificially attached to proteins


affinity

en-noun

affinity (countable and uncountable, plural affinities)

From Middle English affinite, from Old French affinité. Ostensibly equivalent to affine + -ity.

(taxonomy) Resemblances between biological populations, suggesting that they have a common origin, type or stock.


juglandaceous

en-adj

juglandaceous (comparative more juglandaceous, superlative most juglandaceous)

more juglandaceous (comparative)
most juglandaceous (superlative)

The fossil was evidently juglandaceous.

(botany, relational) Of or relating to Juglandaceae.


bidental

The letter proceeds to state that, besides this monster, there is a great variety of remains of another new order of animals, which Mr. Bain has deginated as bidentals, from their possessing only two teeth, or rather tusks, in the upper jaw, and none whatever in the lower jaw.

1845, The Church of England Magazine, volume 18:

That these Bidentals, as Mr. Owen more comprehensively calls them, are amongst the earliest reptiles, has been somewhat rashly assumed.

1851, Robert Chambers, Vestiges of the natural history of creation, page 305:

It was in this area, as well, that he found, among other creatures, his first Dicynodon, one of those famous mammal-like reptiles that he called bidentals because they had only two tusks in the upper jaw and no teeth.

1978, Eve Palmer, The Companion Guide to South Africa, page 242:

(zoology) An organism that has only two teeth, especially a dinosaur of the infraorder Dicynodontia.


velar

Borrowed from Latin vēlāris, from vēlum (“sail; veil, awning”).

(mycology) Referring to a veil or velum.


transpire

en-verb

transpire (third-person singular simple present transpires, present participle transpiring, simple past and past participle transpired)

transpires (present singular third-person)
transpiring (participle present)
transpired (participle past)
transpired (past)

Borrowed from Middle French transpirer, from Medieval Latin transpirare (“to breathe through”), from Latin trans (“across”) spirare (“to breathe”). The sense “to become known” is also present in French, while the sense “to happen” is not; the latter probably developed in English from the former.

der

(botany, intransitive) Of plants, to give off water and waste products through the stomata.

transpirar

botany: to give off water and waste products through the stomata


spur

From Middle English spure, spore, from Old English spora, spura, from Proto-West Germanic *spurō, from Proto-Germanic *spurô, from Proto-Indo-European *sperH- (“to kick”).

(botany) A short thin side shoot from a branch, especially one that bears fruit or, in conifers, the shoots that bear the leaves.


quiescent

en-adj

quiescent (comparative more quiescent, superlative most quiescent)

more quiescent (comparative)
most quiescent (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin quiēscēns (“resting, reposing, sleeping”), present participle of quiēscere, from quiēs (“rest, repose, quiet”).


blast

From Ancient Greek βλαστός (blastós, “germ or sprout”).

der

(cytology) An immature or undifferentiated cell (e.g., lymphoblast, myeloblast).


blast

en-verb

blast (third-person singular simple present blasts, present participle blasting, simple past and past participle blasted)

blasts (present singular third-person)
blasting (participle present)
blasted (participle past)
blasted (past)
BLAST (alternative)

From BLAST (an acronym for Basic Local Alignment Search Tool).

Blasting nucleotide sequences is not always that easy, because there is more ambiguity to the nucleotide sequence, and good hits have to have a 70% homology over the whole sequence to be reliable, compared to 25% with proteins.

2004, Andreas Bommarius, Bettina Riebel-Bommarius, Biocatalysis: Fundamentals and Applications, page 425:

(biology, informal, transitive) To run a nucleotide sequence (for nucleic acids) or an amino acid sequence (for proteins) through a BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool).


realm

From Middle English rewme, realme, reaume, from Old French reaume, realme (“kingdom”), of unclear origins. A postulated *rēgālimen (“domain, kingdom”), Late Latin or Vulgar Latin cross of regimen with rēgālis is usually cited.
The modern pronunciation with /l/ is either a spelling pronunciation or influenced by the etymology.

(virology, taxonomy) A taxonomic rank in the phylogeny of viruses, higher than kingdoms.


virgin

From Middle English virgine, from Old French virgine, from Latin virginem, accusative of virgō. Doublet of Virgo. Displaced native Old English fǣmne.

(entomology) A female insect producing eggs from which young are hatched, though there has been no fecundation by a male; a parthenogenetic insect.


recapitulation

en-noun

recapitulation (countable and uncountable, plural recapitulations)

recapitulations (plural)
re-capitulation (alternative)

re·kə·pĭ·chə·lāʹshən

From Anglo-Norman recapitulaciun et al., Middle French recapitulacion et al., or their source, from Late Latin recapitulatio (“summing up, summary”), from the participle stem of recapitulare (“recapitulate”), from re- + capitulum (“chapter, section”), diminutive of caput (“head”).

der

(biology) The reenactment of the embryonic development in evolution of the species.


temporal

From Middle English, from Middle French timporal, temporal, from Late Latin temporālis, from tempora (“the temples of the head”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of temporalis.

af

(zootomy) Any of a reptile's scales on the side of the head between the parietal and supralabial scales, and behind the postocular scales.


birdsong

en-noun

birdsong (countable and uncountable, plural birdsongs)

birdsongs (plural)
bird song (alternative)

(ornithology) A vocalisation made by a bird for the purposes of courtship.


adjutant

From Latin adiūtō, frequentative of adiuvō (“assist”). First attested in 17th century. Or from Latin adiuvāns, present participle of adiuvō, from iuvō (“help”).

Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Plotus melanogaster), scissor-bills (Rhynchops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plovers, and ibises.

1876, "Burmah" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 552

(zoology) Any bird of the genus Leptoptilos, a branch of the stork family (Ciconiidae) native to India and Southeast Asia.


supreme

en-adj

supreme (comparative supremer or more supreme, superlative supremest or most supreme)

supremer (comparative)
more supreme (comparative)
supremest (superlative)
most supreme (superlative)
suprême (alternative)

From Middle English suppreme, partly from Middle French suppreme, supreme and partly from its etymon, Latin suprēmus, superlative of superus (“that is above”). Doublet of supremo, and equivalent to super + -eme.

(botany) Situated at the highest part or point.


mortality

en-noun

mortality (countable and uncountable, plural mortalities)

From Old French mortalite, from Latin mortālitās, from mortālis (“relating to death”), from mors (“death”); equivalent to mortal + -ity.

In foundling hospitals, and among the children brought up by parish charities the mortality is still greater than among those of the common people.

1776 March 9, Adam Smith, chapter VIII, in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, book I (Of the Causes of Improvement in the Productive Powers of Labour, […]), page 97:

Some of the objects of enquiry would be […] what was the comparative mortality among the children of the most distressed part of the community, and those who lived rather more at their ease […]

1798, Thomas Malthus, chapter 2, in An Essay on the Principle of Population, London: J. Johnson, pages 32–33:

And, even in peace and at home, what was the sanitary condition of the Army? The mortality in the barracks was, she found, nearly double the mortality in civil life.

1918 May 9, Lytton Strachey, “[Florence Nightingale.] Chapter X”, in Eminent Victorians: Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr. Arnold, General Gordon (Library of English Literature; LEL 11347), London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 146:

[…] a drought year brought conditions especially favorable to the beetle and the mortality of elms went up 1000 per cent.

1962, Rachel Carson, chapter 8, in Silent Spring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 114:

By studying mortality rates and pollution statistics in 90 Chinese cities, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Israel and China discovered that air pollution from burning coal in north China, defined as above the Huai River, with a population of around 500 million people, was 55% higher than in the south.

2013 July 9, Calum MacLeod, “In China, air pollution report brings despair, humor”, in USA Today, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-07-10:

The number of deaths; and, usually and especially, the number of deaths per time unit (usually per year), expressed as a rate.

(biology, ecology, demography, insurance) The number of deaths per given unit of population over a given period of time.


immortality

immortality (countable and uncountable, plural immortalities)

/ˌɪmɔːˈtæləti/

/ˌɪmɔːɹˈtæləti/

From Middle English immortalitee, immortalite, from Old French immortalité, from Latin immortālitās.
Morphologically immortal + -ity

خُلُود

condition of not being susceptible to death

In Greek mythology, Tithonus was granted immortality but not eternal youth.

In the little, as in the great things of life, are to be found the type and sign of our immortality. Every hope that looks forward is pledge of the hereafter to which it refers. Who rests content with the present? None. We have all deep within us a craving for the future.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Marriage Morning”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 201:

His one desire was to become the father of a man like himself, and it held him with a grip he only partially understood, for it was the first great desire, the first great passion of his life. Falling in love was a mere physical triviality, like warm sun or cool water, beside this divine hope of immortality: "I continue."

1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 4

(religion, mythology, biology) The condition of being immortal.

The condition of being immortal.
Never dying

You have to salute Gerrard's bravery in accepting the challenge of trying to turn Rangers around given that he has zero experience in senior management. Immortality beckons if he does it.

2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport:

The condition of being immortal.
Being remembered forever


barrel

From Middle English barel, from Anglo-Norman baril, Old French baril, bareil (“barrel”), of uncertain origin. An attempt to link baril to Old French barre (“bar, bolt”) (compare Medieval Latin barra (“bar, rod”)) via assumed Vulgar Latin *barrīculum meets the phonological requirement, but fails to connect the word semantically. The alternative connection to Frankish *baril, *beril or Gothic *𐌱𐌴𐍂𐌹𐌻𐍃 (*bērils, “container for transport”), from Proto-Germanic *barilaz, *bērilaz (“barrel, jug, container”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, transport”), is more plausible as it connects not only the form of the word but also the sense; equivalent to bear + -le. Compare also Old High German biril (“jug, large pot”), Luxembourgish Bärel, Bierel (“jug, pot”), Old Norse berill (“barrel for liquids”), Old English byrla (“barrel of a horse, trunk, body”). More at bear.

vat

round vessel made from staves bound with a hoop

(zoology) The hollow basal part of a feather.

somatosensory cortex
somatosensory cortex

(biology) Any of the dark-staining regions in the somatosensory cortex of rodents, etc., where somatosensory inputs from the contralateral side of the body come in from the thalamus.


scab

en-noun

scab (countable and uncountable, plural scabs)

From Middle English scabb, scabbe (also as shabbe, schabbe > English shab), from Old English sċeabb and Old Norse skabb, both from Proto-Germanic *skabbaz (“scab, scabies”), from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to cut, split, carve, shape”). Doublet of shab. Cognate with German Schabe (“scabies”), Danish skab (“scab, scabies”), Swedish skabb (“scab, scabies”), Latin scabies (“scab, itch, mange”). Related also to Old English scafan (“to scrape, shave”), Latin scabere (“to scratch”), English shabby.

der

(phytopathology) Any one of various more or less destructive fungal diseases that attack cultivated plants, forming dark-colored crustlike spots.


acinaceous

en-adj

acinaceous (comparative more acinaceous, superlative most acinaceous)

more acinaceous (comparative)
most acinaceous (superlative)

(botany) Containing seeds or stones of grapes, or grains like them.


acinaciform

From New Latin acīnacifōrmis, from acinaces (“short sword”) + -form.

an acinaciform leaf


-id

From Middle French -ide (like also English -ide), French -ide, and their sources, Latin -id-, -is and Ancient Greek -ῐδ- (-ĭd-), -ῐς (-ĭs).

(botany) Forming nouns from Latin or Greek roots, including certain plant names modelled on Latin sources.

A felid is a member of Felidae.

(zoology) Forming common names of members of a taxon which has a name ending in -idae.

protocone (“cusp of an upper molar”) + -id → protoconid (“equivalent for lower molars”)

(dentistry, paleontology) Forming names of dental features found in lower (mandibular) teeth.


acinus

Unadapted borrowing from Latin acinus (“grape, grape-stone”); the histopathologic sense comes figuratively from the fancied resemblance (on microscopy) of acinic cells (acinar cells) to bunches of drupelets, berries, or grapes.

ubor

Coordinate term: vesicle

(botany) One of the small grains or drupelets which make up some kinds of fruit, as the blackberry, raspberry, etc.


porter

From Middle English porter, portere, portier, borrowed from Anglo-Norman portour and Old French porteor, from Late Latin portātor, from past participle of Latin portāre (“to carry”). By surface analysis, port (“to carry”) + -er.

surf

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

(entomology) An ant having the specialized role of carrying.


-in

albumin, casein, chitin, pepsin, saponin

(biochemistry) Used, as a modification of -ine, to form the names of a variety of types of compound; examples include proteins (globulin), carbohydrates (dextrin), dyes (alizarin) and others (vanillin).

renin, pancreatin

penicillin, streptomycin

cobalamin, niacin, vitamin


descendant

From Middle English dessendaunte, borrowed from Middle French, from Latin dēscendēns, present participle of descendere, from dē + scandere (“to climb, ascend”).

Dogs evolved as descendants of early wolves.


cleavage

en-noun

cleavage (countable and uncountable, plural cleavages)

[C]itellate annelids (leeches + oligochaetes) provide solid ground for comparative analyses, because they form a monophyletic group within the paraphyletic polychaetes[…]. […] The unequal cleavage of the zygote followed by the unequal cleavage of the CD cell is critical for D-quadrant specification since the cytoplasmic determinants present in teloplasm are segregated to the larger CD cell at first asymmetric cleavage and then to the larger D cell at the second asymmetric cleavage[…].

2008 spring, Dierdre Colleen Lyons, “Mechanisms Controlling the Asymmetric Second Cleavage”, in Mechanisms Controlling the Asymmetric Second Cleavage in the Helobdella Embryo (unpublished Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology dissertation), Berkeley, Calif.: University of California, Berkeley, →OCLC, page 16:

(biology) The repeated division of a cell into daughter cells after mitosis.


strand

Origin uncertain. Cognate with Scots stran, strawn, strand (“strand”). Perhaps the same as strand ("rivulet, stream, gutter"; see Etymology 1 above); or from Middle English *stran, from Old French estran (“a rope, cord”), from Middle High German stren, strene (“skein, strand”), from Old High German streno, from Proto-West Germanic *strenō, from Proto-Germanic *strinô (“strip, strand”), from Proto-Indo-European *strēy-, *ster- (“strip, line, streak, ray, stripe, row”); related to Dutch streen (“skein, hank of thread, strand, string”), German Strähne (“skein, hank of thread, strand of hair”). Compare also Old High German stranga (“strand of hair”), modern German Strang (“strand, thread, cord”).


style

en-noun

style (countable and uncountable, plural styles)

styles (plural)
stile (alternative)
stylee (alternative)
stile (alternative)

→ Finnish: staili

→ Scottish Gaelic: stoidhle

→ Iban: stail

→ Japanese: スタイル (sutairu)

→ Korean: 스타일 (seutail)

→ Malay: stail

→ Portuguese: style

→ Swahili: staili

The noun is derived from Middle English stile, stel, stele, stiel, stiele, stil, still, stille, styele, style, styill, styll, styyl (“writing tool, stylus; piece of written work; characteristic mode of expression, particularly one regarded as high quality; demeanour, manner, way of life; person's designation or title; stem of a plant; period of time”), from Old French style, estile, stil, stile (modern French style), or from Medieval Latin stylus, both from Latin stilus (“pointed instrument, pale, spike, stake; writing tool, stylus; act of setting down in writing, composition; characteristic mode of expression, style; stem of a plant”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp; to pierce, prick, puncture, stab; to goad”). Doublet of stylus.
The English word is cognate with Catalan estil (“engraving tool, stylus; gnomon; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace”), German Stiel (“handle; stalk”), Italian stilo (“needle, stylus; fountain pen; beam; gnomon; part of pistil, style”), Occitan estil, Portuguese estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style”), Spanish estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace; part of pistil, style”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

styl

manner of expression in writing or speech

styl

manner of creating, doing, or presenting something, especially a work of architecture or art

The calyx of Theophraſta is a ſmall, permanent perianthium, divided into five obtuſe ſegments, making obtuſe angles alſo with one another: [...] the ſtyle is ſubulated, and ſhorter than the corolla: the ſtigma is acute.

1751, John Hill, A General Natural History: Or, New and Accurate Descriptions of the Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals of the Different Parts of the World; […], London: Printed for Thomas Osborne, […], →OCLC, page 268:

Senses relating to a thin, pointed object.

(botany) The stalk that connects the stigma(s) to the ovary in a pistil of a flower.

estil

(zoology) A small, thin, pointed body part.

the anal styles of insects

(entomology) A long, slender, bristle-like process near the anal region.


synonymy

en-noun

synonymy (countable and uncountable, plural synonymies)

From Latin synonymia, from Ancient Greek συνωνυμία (sunōnumía), from σύν (sún, “with”) + ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).

sink into synonymy

In 1924 this name was reduced to synonymy.

(taxonomy) The state of not being the name to be used, of being a synonym.

The synonymy of Tachina is extensive.

Descriptions are followed by a synonymy of the names that have been applied in the literature .

(taxonomy, by extension) A group or list of synonyms.


throat

throats (plural)
throate (alternative)
throte (alternative)

peak

antonym(s) of “end of a gaff next to the mast”

From Middle English throte, from Old English þrote, þrota, þrotu (“throat”), from Proto-Germanic *þrutō (“throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *trud- (“to swell, become stiff”). Cognate with Dutch strot (“throat”), German Drossel (“throttle, gorge of game (wild animals)”) (etymology 2), Icelandic þroti (“swelling”), Swedish trut.

cog

one's belly thinks one's throat has been cut

one's stomach thinks one's throat has been cut

(botany) The orifice of a tubular organ; the outer end of the tube of a monopetalous corolla; the faux, or fauces.


corselet

corselets (plural)
corcelet (alternative)
corselette (alternative)
corslet (alternative)

From French corselet, from cors, an archaic spelling of corps (“body”).

With the added suggestion of her goggles it reminded her pupil of the polished shell or corslet of a horrid beetle.


trehalose

en-noun

trehalose (countable and uncountable, plural trehaloses)

/ˈtɹiːələʊz/

The most important of these is the common sugar furnished by the sugar cane, hence termed cane sugar, related to which are some others of small importance, viz., trehalose, melezitose, and melitose, represented by the general formula (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁,xH₂O).

1862, William Allen Miller, Elements of Chemistry: Theoretical and Practical, volume 3:

The researchers fed a natural sugar called trehalose to mice genetically engineered to have a severe version of Huntington's disease.

2004 January 24, New Scientist, page 14:

Major components of the polar lipids are the acylated trehaloses which differ considerably in their acylation patterns to trehalose and in fatty acid content.

2013, Thomas M. Shinnick, Tuberculosis, page 14:

Two bacterial strains that have plagued hospitals around the country may have been at least partly fueled by a sugar additive in our food products, scientists say. Trehalose, a sugar that is added to a wide range of food products, could have allowed certain strains of Clostridium difficile to become far more virulent than they were before, a new study finds.

2018 January 3, Amina Khan, “A popular sugar additive may have fueled the spread of not one but two superbugs”, in Los Angeles Times:

(biochemistry) A disaccharide formed from two glucose units; it is an isomer of maltose


shield

From Middle English scheld, shelde, from Old English scield (“shield”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeldu, from Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“cut, split”). Cognate with West Frisian skyld, Dutch schild (“shield”), German Schild (“shield”), Danish skjold (“shield”), Icelandic skjöldur (“shield”) and Faroese skjøldur (“shield”).
Compare Latin scūtum (“shield”), Irish sciath (“shield”), Latgalian škīda (“shield”), Lithuanian skydas (“shield”), Russian щит (ščit, “shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover, protect”), *skey- (“to cut, split”).

noncog

Anything that protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection.

(lichenology) In lichens, a hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci.


buckler

From Middle English bukler, bokler, bokeler, bokeleer, from Old French bocler, boucler, bucler, (French bouclier) from Vulgar Latin *bucculārius (“bossed”), from Latin buccula (“boss”). Merged with buckle + -er.

Most zeids have spiny projections or bucklers at the dorsal- and anal-fin bases and bony plates on the ventral surface of the abdomen.

2000, Jeffrey Martin Leis, Brooke M. Carson-Ewart, The Larvae of Indo-Pacific Coastal Fishes, page 186:

(zoology) One of the large, bony, external plates found on many ganoid fishes.

(zoology) The anterior segment of the shell of a trilobite.


vortex

(zoology) Any of numerous species of small Turbellaria belonging to Vortex and allied genera.


barb

PIE word
 *bʰardʰéh₂
From Middle English barbe, from Middle French barbe, from Old French barbe (“beard, beard-like element”). Doublet of beard.

der

(ornithology) One of the many side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane.

(ichthyology) Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.

(botany) A hair or bristle ending in a double hook.

осил

botany: hair or bristle ending in a double hook


divide

en-verb

divide (third-person singular simple present divides, present participle dividing, simple past and past participle divided)

divides (present singular third-person)
dividing (participle present)
divided (participle past)
divided (past)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English dividen, from Latin dīvidere (“to divide”). Displaced native Old English tōdǣlan.

dividend

the sum being divided, the upper term in a fraction

divisor

the number of parts in a division, the lower term in a fraction

[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, and that in several cases these bacteria were dividing and thus, by the perverse arithmetic of biological terminology, multiplying.

2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

(intransitive, biology) Of a cell, to reproduce by dividing.


pectoral

All senses are ultimately from Latin pectorālis, but some may have come through Old French and Middle English.

the pectoral sandpiper

(zoology) Having the breast conspicuously colored.


transfer

en-noun

transfer (countable and uncountable, plural transfers)

/tɹɑːnsˈfɜː/

(genetics) The conveying of genetic material from one cell to another.


maritime

en-adj

maritime (comparative more maritime, superlative most maritime)

more maritime (comparative)
most maritime (superlative)

/ˈmæ.ɹɪˌtɑɪm/

Borrowed from Middle French maritime, from Latin maritimus.

a maritime bird or animal

On the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and northernmost Florida, maritime forests are dominated by live oaks (Quercus virginiana), and occur as large contiguous patches of forest on barrier islands, the immediate mainland, and as small patches (oak hammocks) scattered among coastal marshes.

2004 March, Scott G. Somershoe, C. Ray Chandler, “Use of Oak Hammocks by Neotropical Migrant Songbirds: the Role of Area and Habitat”, in The Wilson Bulletin, volume 116, number 1, Lawrence, KS: Wilson Ornithological Society, page 56:

(zoology) Inhabiting the seashore; living coastwise; littoral. (distinguished from marine)


TIM

en-noun

TIM (countable and uncountable, plural TIMs)

Abbreviation.
* (trans-identified male): when applied to trans women by transphobes, perhaps influenced by the name Tim.

(cytology) Translocon on Inner cellular Membrane


kettle

→ Brunei Malay: kitil

→ Persian: کتری (ketri)

→ Bengali: কেটলি (keṭli)

→ Hindi: केतली (ketlī)

→ Gujarati: કીટલી (kīṭlī)

→ Irish: citeal

→ Maltese: kitla

→ Zulu: igedlela

From Middle English ketel, also chetel, from Old English ċietel (“kettle, cauldron”) and in Middle English possibly influenced by Old Norse ketill and both from Proto-Germanic *katilaz (“kettle, bucket, vessel”), of uncertain origin and formation. Usually regarded as a borrowing of Late Latin catīllus (“small bowl”), diminutive of Latin catinus (“deep bowl, vessel for cooking up or serving food”), however, the word may be Germanic confused with the Latin: compare Old English cete (“cooking pot”), Old High German chezzi (“a kettle, dish, bowl”), Icelandic kati, ketla (“a small boat”). Cognate with West Frisian tsjettel (“kettle”), Dutch ketel (“kettle”), German Kessel (“kettle”), Swedish kittel (“cauldron”), Swedish kittel (“kettle”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (katils, “kettle”), Finnish kattila, Polish kocioł (“cauldron”), Czech kotel (“boiler”), Russian котёл (kotjól, “boiler, cauldron”).
(watch): Cockney rhyming slang from 'kettle and hob' to 'fob' (fob watch).

cog

a kettle of hawks

Kettles can consist of thousands of birds migrating together.

2010, Jean-Luc E. Cartron, Raptors of New Mexico:

(ornithology, collective) A group of raptors riding a thermal, especially when migrating.


umbo

en-noun

umbo (plural umbones or umbos or umboes)

umbones (plural)
umbos (plural)
umboes (plural)

Borrowed from Latin umbō (“a shield boss”).

(biology) A boss, or rounded elevation, or a corresponding depression, in a palate, disk, or membrane.

(anatomy) An inward projection of the tympanic membrane of the ear.

(zoology) One of the lateral prominences just above the hinge of a bivalve shell.

(mycology) A bump or protrusion on the cap of a mushroom or toadstool.


flavid

From Latin flāvidus, ultimately from flāvus.


caste

Borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish casta (“lineage, breed, race”), of uncertain origin.
* The OED derives it from Portuguese casto (“chaste”), from Latin castus (“chaste"; "chastity”).
* Coromines (1987) argues instead for a hypothetical Gothic form *𐌺𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (*kasts, “group, collection of animals”), cognate with English cast, from Proto-Germanic *kastuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ǵ-es-.

unc

uncertain

In beehives, most bees belong to the worker caste.

(zoology) A class of polymorphous eusocial insects of a particular size and function within a colony.


supertribe

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

taxonomists have been inventing a confusing raft of ranks, such as phalanxes, infracohorts and supertribes

2004 September 11, New Scientist, page 13:

(taxonomy) one of the ranks used in classifying animal life forms; a supertribe is more specific than a subfamily and more general than a tribe


infracohort

(taxonomy) One of the ranks used in classifying animal life forms; an infracohort is more specific than a subcohort and more general than a subtercohort.


chitin

en-noun

chitin (countable and uncountable, plural chitins)

From French chitine, from Latin chitōn (“mollusk”), from Ancient Greek χιτών (khitṓn). See also chiton.

Chitin usually occurs throughout Invertebrates in the form of an investment to the outermost cellular layer or ectoderm.

1880, Arthur Gamgee, A Text-book of the Physiological Chemistry of the Animal Body, Macmillan, page 299:

The robot’s energy source is the sugar in the polysaccharide called chitin that makes up a fly’s exoskeleton.

2004 September 11, New Scientist, page 19:

(biochemistry) A complex polysaccharide, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in the exoskeletons of arthropods and in the cell walls of fungi; thought to be responsible for some forms of asthma in humans.

խիտին

polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in arthropod and fungi


baculum

Learned borrowing from Latin baculum (“stick, staff, sceptre, cudgel”).

lbor

Bacula can be straight rods, s-shaped curves, or even bizarre, flared scoops.

2018 January 24, Elsa Panciroli, The Guardian:

(zoology) A bone found in the penis of some placental mammals.


stress

en-noun

stress (countable and uncountable, plural stresses)

Hans Selye
Walter Cannon
stress
stress (mechanics)

From a shortening of Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distringō (“to stretch out”). This form probably coalesced with Middle English stresse, from Old French estrece (“narrowness”), from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus (“narrow”).
In the sense of "mental strain" or “disruption”, used occasionally in the 1920s and 1930s by psychologists, including Walter Cannon (1934); in “biological threat”, used by endocrinologist Hans Selye, by metaphor with stress in physics (force on an object) in the 1930s, and popularized by same in the 1950s.

(biology) A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism.

(biology) Aggression toward an organism resulting in a response in an attempt to restore previous conditions.


apoptosis

apoptosis (countable and uncountable, plural apoptoses)

From Ancient Greek ἀπόπτωσις (apóptōsis, “a falling off”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + πτῶσις (ptôsis, “falling”).

der

The term apoptosis is proposed for a hitherto little recognized mechanism of controlled cell deletion, which appears to play a complementary but opposite role to mitosis in the regulation of animal cell populations.

1972, J. F. R. Kerr, A. H. Wyllie, A. R. Currie, “Apoptosis: A Basic Biological Phenomenon with Wide-ranging Implications in Tissue Kinetics”, in British journal of cancer, volume 26, →DOI:

Indeed, so important is apoptosis that it is gradually becoming clear that almost all therapeutic cancer treatment works only because it induces apoptosis by alerting p53 and its colleagues.

1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 238:

Apoptosis is routine in developmental processes such as the removal of webbing between fingers in humans, the loss of tadpole tails in amphibians, and insect metamorphosis.

2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 74:

(biology, cytology) A process of programmed cell death by which cells undergo an ordered sequence of events which leads to death of the cell, as occurs during growth and development of the organism, as a part of normal cell aging, or as a response to cellular injury.


LT

en-noun

LT (countable and uncountable, plural LTs)

(biochemistry, immunology) Initialism of leukotriene.


LC

LC (countable and uncountable, plural LCs)


model

desc

→ Cantonese: 模特兒 /模特儿 (mou⁴ dak⁶ ji⁴), 摩度

→ Cebuano: model

→ German: Model

→ Japanese: モデル

→ Korean: 모델 (model)

→ Mandarin: 模特兒 /模特儿, 麻豆 (neologism)

→ Swahili: modeli

→ Welsh: model

From Middle French modelle, from Old Italian modello, from Vulgar Latin *modellus, diminutive form of modulus (“measure, standard”), diminutive of modus (“measure”); see mode, and compare module, modulus, mould, mold.

عارض أزياء

ʕāriḍ ʔazyāʔ

They studied fasting and glycemia in a mouse model.

They studied Mendelian inheritance in a fruit fly model.

They studied plasmid transfer in a mycobacterial model.

en:organism or species used in studying biology including disease

(biology, medicine) An organism or species that is used to study an aspect of physiology or pathophysiology or a particular disease; often, a nonhuman one used to approximate processes in humans.


blast cell

From Ancient Greek βλαστός (blastós, “germ, sprout”).

der

(cytology) A cell that produces something, such as a fibroblast or osteoblast.


ancora

From Latin ancora. Doublet of anchor and anker.

(palaeography) Either of the symbols ⟨⸔⟩, ⟨⸕⟩ found in marginal notes to mark missing text.


nucleotide

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

From nucleo- (“relating to the nucleus”) + -ide (“chemical suffix”).

af

With a genome of only 400 million or so nucleotide bases, the pufferfish, Fugu rubripes rubripes, has the smallest known genome of any vertebrate animal. […] But the region of DNA between the landmarks can be a million or more nucleotides long.

1993 December 28, James Younger, “Fishy Short Cut To Mapping Human Genome”, in The New York Times:

Magid draws […] a diagram depicting a restriction enzyme cutting neatly through a sequence of nucleotides.

2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, London: Penguin Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 464:

(biochemistry) The monomer constituting DNA or RNA biopolymer molecules. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous heterocyclic base (or nucleobase), which can be either a double-ringed purine or a single-ringed pyrimidine; a five-carbon pentose sugar (deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA); and a phosphate group.


nucleoside

(biochemistry) an organic molecule in which a nitrogenous heterocyclic base (or nucleobase), which can be either a double-ringed purine or a single-ringed pyrimidine, is covalently attached to a five-carbon pentose sugar (deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA). When the phosphate group is covalently attached to the pentose sugar, it forms a nucleotide.


glucoside

glucosides (plural)
glucosid (alternative)

(biochemistry) A glycoside that yields glucose after hydrolysis.


glycoside

(organic chemistry, biochemistry) A molecule in which a sugar group (the glycone) is bound to a non-sugar group (the corresponding aglycone) by a nitrogen or oxygen atom. Glycosides yield a sugar after undergoing hydrolysis.


glucose

en-noun

glucose (countable and uncountable, plural glucoses)

Through French, from Ancient Greek γλεῦκος (gleûkos, “wine, must”); note: -ose comes from glucose, not the other way round. In other words, the view of the word glucose as gluco- + -ose is a reanalysis rather than a historical etymology. This is unusual for being a reanalysis that works completely, that is, without any leftover nonsense syllables (such as the ham- in reanalyzed hamburger).

uder

(biochemistry) A simple monosaccharide (sugar) with a molecular formula of C₆H₁₂O₆; it is a principle source of energy for cellular metabolism.

葡萄糖

phû-tô-thn̂g, phô-tô-thn̂g, phôe-tô-thn̂g, pû-tô-thn̂g

葡萄糖 (pútáotáng, literally “grape sugar/grape carbohydrate”)


sucrose

en-noun

sucrose (countable and uncountable, plural sucroses)

There were four forms of sugar interesting to the physiologist---cane sugar, grape sugar, milk sugar, and liver sugar. They might be called, for the sake of distinction, sucrose, glucose, lactose, and hepatose. The first two were vegetable, the last two, animal products.

1858, July 3, The Medical Times & Gazette, 20

Dextran is an indicator of cane deterioration and sucrose loss after harvesting of the cane.

2019, S. Nel, S. B. Davis, A. Endo, and L. M. T. Dicks, “Differentiation between Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Bacillus subtilis isolated from a South African sugarcane processing factory using ARDRA and rpoB gene sequencing” in Archives of Microbiology, 1

(biochemistry) A disaccharide with formula C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁, consisting of two simple sugars, glucose and fructose; normal culinary sugar.


fructose

fructose (countable and uncountable, plural fructoses)

From Latin fructus (“fruit”) + -ose (“sugar”) (derivation of sucrose).

(biochemistry) A monosaccharide ketose sugar, formula C₆H₁₂O₆.


-ose

(biochemistry) Used to indicate a product of protein breakdown


fibre

fibre (countable and uncountable, plural fibres)

tlb

(British, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa spellings)

From French fibre, from Old French, from Latin fibra.

It is the deeper parts of such cells which give rise to delicate muscular fibres or networks of fibres, while the superficially placed body of the cell myoblast), the part which produces the above, performs other functions, and usually bears a cilium.

1892, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Claus, edited by F. G. Heathcote, Elementary Text-book of Zoology:

(cytology) A long tubular cell found in bodily tissue.


primer

en-noun

primer (countable and uncountable, plural primers)

запалка

small charge used to ignite gunpowder or other explosive

(biochemistry, genetics) A molecule which initiates the synthesis of an enzyme, (especially) a single-stranded nucleic acid molecule which initiates DNA replication.

引物

biology: molecule required for replication of DNA

(medicine, zoology) A pheromone which interacts first with the endocrine system.

alustava feromoni

medicine, zoology: pheromone which interacts first


gynandrous

From Ancient Greek γύνανδρος (gúnandros, “of doubtful sex, womanish; warlike woman”); equivalent to gyno- (“woman”) + -androus.

bor

Orchids have gynandrous flowers.

(botany) Having stamens and pistils together in a column.

ginandru

botany: having stamens and pistils together in a column


hermaphrodite

From Hermaphroditus, the mythical son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who merged bodies with a naiad, thereafter having both male and female qualities.

deledash

organism having both male and female gonads

An earthworm is a hermaphrodite.

(biology) Cosexual: an organism possessing both types of gonads; a flower possessing both stamens and pistils.

Comb jellies are sequential hermaphrodites.

(biology) Dichogamous: an organism which begins its life as one sex and changes its sex over its life cycle.


hermaphrodite

two-spirit

two-spirits were formerly often called hermaphrodites

(biology) Having both ovaries and testes or both stamens and pistils.


nasal

From Middle English, from Medieval Latin nāsālis, from nāsus (“the nose”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of nasalis.

af

(zootomy) A plate, or scale, on the nose of a fish, etc.


fiber

en-noun

fiber (countable and uncountable, plural fibers)

From French fibre, from Old French fibre, from Latin fibra.


fiddle

→ Swahili: fidla

From Middle English fithele, from Old English *fiþele, from Proto-West Germanic *fiþulā, from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ (“fiddle”), of uncertain etymology. Some contest that the Germanic terms are borrowed variations of Late Latin vitula (see viola); others contest that the word has a separate origin within Germanic languages, and still others believe that the Late Latin term for the stringed instrument is a borrowing from Germanic as a change of Latin t to Germanic þ is highly improbable, yet Germanic þ to Latin t is well documented (see troop, Teobaldo, etc.). Cognate with Old High German fidula (German Fiedel), Middle Dutch vedele (Dutch vedel, veel), Old Norse fiðla (Icelandic fiðla, Danish fiddel, Norwegian fela, Swedish fela).
The change from /ðl/ to /dl/ in modern English is regular; compare Bedlam, staddle, swaddle (in brothel, it was prevented; see that entry for discussion).

hang up one's fiddle when one comes home

there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle

Something resembling a violin, or fiddle, in shape, particularly:

(biology) A dock (Rumex pulcher) with leaves supposed to resemble the musical instrument.


oophagy

A number of shark species go in for oophagy, or uterine cannibalism.

2015, Theo Tait, ‘Don't wear yum-yum yellow’, London Review of Books, volume 34, number 15:

(zoology) The cannibalization of subordinate eggs within a homogeneous population or the uterus; particularly as it relates to certain insect and aquatic species.


-on

* (Physics) From -on in electron, reinforced by Ancient Greek -ον (-on) ending neuter nouns and adjectives.
* (Chemistry) From -on in carbon, first applied to boron and then to silicon.

Coordinate term: -ino

(physics, mathematics and biology) Forming nouns denoting subatomic particles (proton), quanta (photon), molecular units (codon), or substances (interferon).

(biology, genetics) Forming names of things considered as basic or fundamental units, such as codon or recon.


recalcitrant

en-adj

recalcitrant (comparative more recalcitrant, superlative most recalcitrant)

more recalcitrant (comparative)
most recalcitrant (superlative)

compliant

antonym(s) of “stubbornly unwilling to obey authority”

amenable

antonym(s) of “difficult to operate or deal with”

orthodox

antonym(s) of “not viable for long period”

Borrowed from French récalcitrant, from Latin recalcitrāns, recalcitrantis, present participle of recalcitrō, recalcitrāre (“be disobedient, kick back [as a horse]”), from calx (“heel”), 1820s.

(botany, of seed, pollen, spores) Not viable for an extended period; damaged by drying or freezing.


tendon

Borrowed from French tendon or Medieval Latin tendō, from Ancient Greek τένων (ténōn, “sinew, tendon”), modified by association with the verb tendō (“to stretch”). Compare Middle English thenoun.


lesion

From Middle English lesioun, from Old French lesion, from Latin laesiō (“injury”), itself from laesus, perfect passive participle of laedō (“I injure, hurt”).

(biochemistry) Any compound formed from damage to a nucleic acid.


hormone

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ὁρμῶν (hormôn), present participle of ὁρμάω (hormáō, “to set in motion, to urge on”), from ὁρμή (hormḗ, “rapid motion forwards, onrush, onset, assault, impulse to do a thing, effort”).

hormon

synthetic compound with the same activity as a hormone

(botany) Any similar substance in plants.


repeat

From Middle English repeten, from Old French repeter, from Latin repetō, repetere, from the prefix re- (“again”) + peto (“attack, beseech”).

ҡабатлау

rerun of a television broadcast — see also rerun

(genetics, biochemistry) A pattern of nucleic acids that occur in multiple copies throughout a genome (or of amino acids in a protein).


divorce

en-noun

divorce (countable and uncountable, plural divorces)

Derived from Old French divorce, from Latin dīvortium, from dīvertere (“to turn aside”), from dī- (“apart”) + vertere (“to turn”); see verse.

(zoology) The separation of a bonded pair of animals.


aster

→ Cebuano: aster

→ Esperanto: astero

From Latin astēr, from Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr). Doublet of star, stella, étoile, and estoile.

doublet

(biology) A star-shaped structure formed during the mitosis of a cell.


epigenetic

/ˌɛpɪd͡ʒəˈnɛtɪk/

(genetics, mineralogy) Of or relating to epigenesis.

The old and optimistic “one gene — one character” concept has long been invalidated by phenomena such as pleiotropy and polygeny, and for a generation now we have thought of genomic activity as a system of complex epigenetic interactions — an epigenetic landscape.

1977 December, Rupert Riedl, “A Systems-Analytical Approach to Macro-Evolutionary Phenomena”, in The Quarterly Review of Biology, volume 52, number 4, →JSTOR, page 352:

Every cell in the body contains the same DNA but epigenetic settings on cells in the bone and blood, for example, mean the tissues do very different jobs. The epigenetic consequences of a huge range of environmental factors are under investigation, from exposure to drugs, chemicals and hormones, to the impact of poor maternal care in infancy, and the likelihood that they are as hereditable as DNA.

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

It is now possible to define whole epigenomes, representing the totality of epigenetic marks in a given cell type. Epigenetic processes are essential for packaging and interpreting the genome, are fundamental to normal development and are increasingly recognized as being involved in human disease.

2008 August 7, The American Association for Cancer Research Human Epigenome Task Force, European Union, Network of Excellence, Scientific Advisory Board, “Moving AHEAD with an international human epigenome project”, in Nature, volume 454, →DOI, page 711:

As one celebrated example, if you're a baby rat growing up with an atypically inattentive mother, epigenetic changes in the regulation of one gene in your hippocampus will make it harder for you to recover from stress as an adult.

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

(genetics) Of or relating to epigenetics.


consumer

(ecology) An organism (heterotroph) that uses other organisms for food in order to gain energy.


delivery

en-noun

delivery (countable and uncountable, plural deliveries)

From Middle English deliveri et al., from Anglo-Norman, from Old French delivrer.

(genetics) Process of introducing foreign DNA into host cells.


wreck

From Middle English wrek, from Anglo-Norman wrek, from Old Norse *wrek (Norwegian and Icelandic rek, Swedish vrak, Danish vrag), from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, whence also Old English wrecan (English wreak), Old High German rehhan, Old Saxon wrekan, Gothic 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan).

[I]n 1952 more than 7,000 were involved in such a "wreck" in Britain and Ireland.

1988, Michael Cady, Rob Hume, editors, The Complete Book of British Birds, page 89:

(ornithology) A large number of birds that have been brought to the ground, injured or dead, by extremely adverse weather.


pathology

pathology (usually uncountable, plural pathologies)

/pəˈθɒləd͡ʒi/

From French pathologie, from Ancient Greek πάθος (páthos, “disease”) and -λογία (-logía, “study of”).

the plant pathology and vertebrate pathology programs of the university's biology department

en:study of all diseases
en:biology specialty

The study of the nature of disease and its causes, processes, development, and consequences; now usually and especially in the clinical and academic medicine subsenses defined below.

(biology, life sciences) Any of several interrelated scientific disciplines that advance the aspects of the life sciences that allow for such technological applications and their advancements over time.


inferior

en-adj

inferior (comparative more inferior, superlative most inferior)

more inferior (comparative)
most inferior (superlative)
inferiour (alternative)

Borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower in situation or place”), comparative of īnferus (“below, underneath”).

bor

(zoology) Situated in a relatively low posterior or ventral position in a quadrupedal body.

(botany) Situated below some other organ (said of a calyx when free from the ovary, and therefore below it, or of an ovary with an adherent and therefore inferior calyx).

(botany) On the side of a flower which is next to the bract.


superior

/sʉːˈpɪə.ɹiː.ə/

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French superiour, from Latin superior (“higher, upper”).

Located above or out; higher in position.

(botany) (of a calyx) Above the ovary; said of parts of the flower which, although normally below the ovary, adhere to it, and so appear to originate from its upper part.

(botany) (of an ovary) Above and free from the other floral organs.

(botany) Belonging to the part of an axillary flower which is toward the main stem.

(botany) (of the radicle) Pointing toward the apex of the fruit.

A genus is superior to a species.


swift

Swift (disambiguation)
swift (bird)
swift (textiles)

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.

cog

Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.

2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:

(entomology) A moth of the family Hepialidae, swift moth, ghost moth.

(entomology) Any of various fast-flying hesperiid butterflies.


lateral

en-adj

lateral (comparative more lateral, superlative most lateral)

more lateral (comparative)
most lateral (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin laterālis (“belonging to the side”), from latus (“the side or flank”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

af

The medial side of the knee faces the other knee, while the outer side of the knee is lateral.

A fish senses changes in hydrodynamic pressure with its lateral line.

To the side; of or pertaining to the side.

(anatomy, zootomy) Situated on one side or other of the body or of an organ, especially in the region furthest from the median plane.


reverse

From Middle English revers, from Anglo-Norman revers, Middle French revers, and their source, Latin reversus, perfect passive participle of reversō, from re- + versō. Doublet of revers.

a reverse shell

(genetics) In which cDNA synthetization is obtained from an RNA template.


disk

→ Japanese: ディスク (disuku)

→ Korean: 디스크 (diseukeu)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: disk

→ Thai: ดิสก์ (dìt)

→ Turkish: disk

→ Welsh: disg

From Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos, “a circular plate suited for hurling”), from δικέω (dikéō, “to hurl, to launch”). Doublet of dais, desk, disc, discus, dish, and diskos.

doublet

(botany) A ring- or cup-shaped enlargement of the flower receptacle or ovary that bears nectar or, less commonly, the stamens.


spine

From late Middle English spyne, from Old French espine (French épine) or its source, Latin spīna (“a thorn; a prickle, spine; the backbone”). Doublet of spina.

der

If you attentively regard almost any quadruped's spine, you will be struck with the resemblance of its vertebrae to a strung necklace of dwarfed skulls.

1851, Herman Melville, chapter 80, in Moby-Dick:

The preposterous altruism too! […] Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 266:

(anatomy, zootomy) A series of bones situated at the back from the head to the pelvis of a human, or from the head to the tail of an animal, enclosing the spinal cord and providing support for the thorax and abdomen.

Trademark Owners will nevertheless try to dictate how their marks are to be represented, but dictionary publishers with spine can resist such pressure.

2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 409:

रीढ़ की हड्डी

rīṛh kī haḍḍī

رِیڑھ کی ہَڈّی

rīṛh kī haḍḍī

The male, as Dr. Gunther informs me, has a cluster of stiff, straight spines, like those of a comb, on the sides of the tail.

1871, Charles Darwin, “chapter 12”, in Descent of Man, page 331:

(zootomy, botany, mycology) A pointed, fairly rigid protuberance or needlelike structure on an animal, shell, mushroom or plant.

espina

rigid, pointed surface protuberance or needle-like structure


sport

en-noun

sport (countable and uncountable, plural sports)

→ Belarusian: спорт (sport)

→ Bulgarian: спорт (sport)

→ Catalan: esport

→ Cebuano: esport

→ Czech: sport

→ Danish: sport

→ Dutch: sport (see there for further descendants)

→ French: sport (see there for further descendants)

→ Georgian: სპორტი (sṗorṭi)

→ German: Sport (see there for further descendants)

→ Hebrew: ספורט

→ Hungarian: sport

→ Irish: spórt, spóirt (Cois Fharraige)

→ Italian: sport

→ Latvian: sports

→ Lithuanian: sportas

→ Lower Sorbian: sport

→ Macedonian: спорт (sport)

→ Norman: sport

→ Northern Kurdish: spor

→ Norwegian: sport

→ Polish: sport

→ Brazilian Portuguese: esporte

→ European Portuguese: desporto

→ Russian: спорт (sport) (see there for further descendants)

→ Scottish Gaelic: spòrs

→ Serbo-Croatian: sport / спорт

→ Swahili: spoti

→ Swedish: sport

→ Thai: สปอร์ต (sà-bpɔ̀ɔt)

→ Uzbek: sport

Japanese: スポーツ (supōtsu)

Korean: 스포츠 (seupocheu)

From Middle English sporten (verb) and sport, spoort, sporte (noun), apheretic shortenings of disporten (verb) and disport, disporte (noun). More at disport.

We never shot another like it, so I do not know if it was a `sport' or a distinct species.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

At Hortus Bulborum you will find heirloom narcissi that date back at least to the 15th century and famous old tulips like 'Duc van Tol' (1595) and its sports.

2014 September 26, Charles Quest-Ritson, “The Dutch garden where tulip bulbs live forever: Hortus Bulborum, a volunteer-run Dutch garden, is dedicated to conserving historic varieties before they vanish for good [print version: Inspired by a living bulb archive, 27 September 2014, p. G5]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening):

(biology, botany, zoology, countable) A plant or an animal, or part of a plant or animal, which has some peculiarity not usually seen in the species; an abnormal variety or growth. The term encompasses both mutants and organisms with non-genetic developmental abnormalities such as birth defects.


excrete

en-verb

excrete (third-person singular simple present excretes, present participle excreting, simple past and past participle excreted)

excretes (present singular third-person)
excreting (participle present)
excreted (participle past)
excreted (past)

Borrowed from Latin excrētum, past participle of excernō, from ex- (“out”), and cernō (“separate”).

Your open pores excrete sweat and dirt.

(biology, ambitransitive) To discharge material (including waste products) from a cell, body or system.


armed

en-adj

armed (comparative more armed, superlative most armed)

more armed (comparative)
most armed (superlative)

From arm (“to equip with a weapon”) + -ed.


pilum

Borrowed from Latin pilum. Doublet of pile.

(botany) The columella on the surface of a pollen grain.


gullet

From Middle English golet, borrowed from Old French goulet, from Latin gula, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷel- (“throat”).

(cytology) The cytopharynx of a ciliate, through which food is ingested.


trachea

en-noun

trachea (plural tracheae or (obsolete) tracheæ or tracheas)

tracheae (plural)
tracheæ (obsolete plural)
tracheas (plural)

From late Middle English, from Medieval Latin trāchēa (“the windpipe”) (also borrowed as Late Latin trāchīa), from Ancient Greek τρᾱχεῖᾰ ᾰ̓ρτηρῐ́ᾱ (trākheîă ărtērĭ́ā, “windpipe, trachea”).

der

τρᾱχεῖᾰ ᾰ̓ρτηρῐ́ᾱ

(entomology) One of the cuticle-lined primary tubes in the respiratory system of an insect, which extend throughout its body.


lysis

From Latin lysis, from Ancient Greek λύσις (lúsis, “a loosening”). Compare -lysis.

The breakdown of molecules into constituent molecules.

The disintegration or destruction of cells.


demersed

From Latin dēmersus, past participle of dēmergere. Botanical sense coined by botanist Thomas Martyn in the 1790s.

coin

(botany) Situated or growing or constantly under water, as leaves; submersed.