apophysis
Americannoun
plural
apophyses-
Anatomy, Botany. an outgrowth; process; projection or protuberance.
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Architecture. apophyge.
noun
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a process, outgrowth, or swelling from part of an animal or plant
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geology a tapering offshoot from a larger igneous intrusive mass
Other Word Forms
- apophysary adjective
- apophysate adjective
- apophyseal adjective
- apophysial adjective
- interapophyseal adjective
Etymology
Origin of apophysis
1605–15; < New Latin < Greek: offshoot, equivalent to apo- apo- + phýsis growth, equivalent to phý ( ein ) to bring forth + -sis -sis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The lemurian apophysis already alluded to is not uncommon.
From Criminal Man According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso by Lombroso, Gina
The apophysis was broken, and the extent of the fracture shows the great force of the blow.
From Manners and Monuments of Prehistoric Peoples by D'Anvers, N.
In Ochrotomys, the orbicular apophysis of the malleus resembles the orbicular apophysis of B. musculus, but the short process of the incus is longer, resembling the short process of B. taylori.
From Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus Baiomys by Packard, Robert L.
An ordinary Cow, and a Bull without horns, will produce a calf resembling the male in appearance and character, without horns and without that particular prominence of the transverse apophysis of the frontal bone.
From Delineations of the Ox Tribe The Natural History of Bulls, Bisons, and Buffaloes. Exhibiting all the Known Species and the More Remarkable Varieties of the Genus Bos. by Vasey, George
The apophysis represents the later and larger growth of the cone-scale.
From The Genus Pinus by Shaw, George Russell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.