tardigrade

English

WOTD – 13 July 2012    

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtɑɹdɪˌgɹeɪd/, X-SAMPA: /"tAr\dI%gr\eId/

Etymology 1

From Latin tardigradus (“slowly stepping”), from tardus (“slow”) + gradior (“step, walk”)

Adjective

tardigrade (comparative more tardigrade, superlative most tardigrade)

1. Sluggish; moving slowly.
   • 1850, Joses Badcock, “Botany; or, Phytology”, in Poems, volume 1, page 67:

     Each tendril ending in a perfect claw, / Obeys the whole routine of Nature's law; / Transforms each sinus to a sylvan shade, / Though p'rhaps its force is rather tardigrade.

   • 1863, George Eliot, Romola:

     He ran on into the piazza, but he quickly heard the tramp of feet behind him, for the other two prisoners had been released, and the soldiers were struggling and fighting their way after them, in such tardigrade fashion as their hoof-shaped shoes would allow—impeded, but not very resolutely attacked, by the people.

   • 2001, Richard S. Conde, “The Metronome”, in Century One, ISBN 0-595-16296-7, page 92:

     In sorrow, its voice is tardigrade but loud, dragging time at a snail's pace before our eyes.

Derived terms

• tardigradous

Translations

sluggish, moving slowly

• Armenian: դանդաղկոտ (hy) (dandałkot), դանդաղաշարժ (hy) (dandałašarž)
• Latin: lentus (la)

• Russian: медленный (ru) (medlennyj)

Etymology 2

Wikipedia

From New Latin Tardigrada (“a phylum of microscopic animals”).

Noun

tardigrade (plural tardigrades)

1. (zoology) A member of the animal phylum Tardigrada.

Synonyms

• water bear

Translations

water bear — see water bear

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Italian

Adjective

tardigrade f

1. feminine plural of tardigrado