uniparous

American  

[yoo-nip-er-uhs] / yuˈnɪp ər əs /

adjective

1. Zoology. producing only one egg or offspring at a time.

2. Botany. (of a cyme) producing only one axis at each branching.

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uniparous British  

/ juːˈnɪpərəs /

adjective

1. (of certain animals) producing a single offspring at each birth

2. (of a woman) having borne only one child

3. botany (of a cyme) giving rise to only one branch from each flowering stem

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Etymology

Origin of uniparous

From the New Latin word ūniparus, dating back to 1640–50. See uni-, -parous

Explanation

An animal that only gives birth to one baby at a time, like an elephant, can be described as uniparous. Human beings are usually uniparous, though they occasionally have twins, triplets, or even more babies at once. You're most likely to come across a description of an animal as uniparous in a zoology class, although it's sometimes used to describe a woman who has only had one child in her lifetime. In either case, the prefix uni, or "one" in Latin, gives a clue to the word's meaning. Parous comes from the Latin parere, "to produce or bring forth."

Example Sentences

The importance of these percentages is impaired by the fact that they involve only five uniparous families and ten sterile ones, and that of these latter only five were sprung from first cousins.

From Consanguineous Marriages in the American Population by Arner, George B. Louis

The uniparous cyme presents two forms, the scorpioid or cicinal and the helicoid or bostrychoid.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

In the uniparous cyme a number of floral axes are successively developed one from the other, but the axis of each successive generation, instead of producing a pair of bracts, produces only one.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

The cyme, according to its development, has been characterized as biparous or uniparous.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

Among the non-consanguineous 3 per cent were uniparous, as against 7.95 per cent among the consanguineous.

From Consanguineous Marriages in the American Population by Arner, George B. Louis