kinesis

¹

[ ki-nee-sis, kahy- ]

noun

, Physiology.

1. the movement of an organism in response to a stimulus, as light.

-kinesis

²

1. a combining form with the general sense “movement, activity,” used in the formation of compound words, often with the particular senses “reaction to a stimulus” ( photokinesis ), “movement without an apparent physical cause” ( telekinesis ), “activity within a cell” ( karyokinesis ).

kinesis

/ kɪˈniːsɪs; kaɪ- /

noun

1. biology the nondirectional movement of an organism or cell in response to a stimulus, the rate of movement being dependent on the strength of the stimulus

Word History and Origins

Origin of kinesis¹

1900–05; < Greek kī́nēsis movement, equivalent to kīnē-, verbid stem of kīneîn to move + -sis -sis

Origin of kinesis²

< Greek -kīnēsis; kinesis

Example Sentences

What figurations, what formulas, could describe the inexhaustible kinesis of those years?

From The Daily Beast

Joyce says something of the sort very differently, he is full of technical scholastic terms: "stasis, kinesis," etc.

From Project Gutenberg

And the old word kinesis will be correctly given as iesis in corresponding modern letters.

From Project Gutenberg