tropism

See also: -tropism

English

Etymology

From -tropism, from geotropism and heliotropism, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin tropus (English trope, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “a turn, way, manner, style, a trope or figure of speech, a mode in music, a mode or mood in logic”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “turn; solstice; trope”).

Noun

tropism (countable and uncountable, plural tropisms)

1. (biology) The turning of an organism in response to a stimulus, either towards or away from the stimulus.
2. (virology) Which type of tissue supports a certain virus.

Usage notes

(biology): Distinguished from taxis in that in a taxis, the organism has motility and moves towards or away from stimulus (e.g., bacteria, animals), while in a tropism the organism is not motile, and simply turns or grows towards or away from stimulus (e.g., plants, fungi). Similarly, kinesis is distinguished as non-directional movement.

In compound terms, analyzed as suffix -tropism, not stand-alone tropism.

Derived terms

See terms derived from -tropism for compounds.

Translations

(biology) turning of an organism

• Afrikaans: tropisme (af)
• Finnish: tropismi
• French: tropisme (fr) m
• Icelandic: leitni f
• Irish: trópacht f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: tropismo (it) m
• Malay: tropisme
• Occitan: tropisme
• Spanish: tropismo (es) m

Anagrams

• imports, primost, promist