lyrate
English
editEtymology
editFrom New Latin lyrātus, from lyra (“lyre”).
Adjective
editlyrate (comparative more lyrate, superlative most lyrate)
- Shaped like a lyre.
- 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 205:
- The passage of time could only enhance his tenderness for the creature he clasped, this adored creature, whose motion was now more supple, whose haunches had grown more lyrate, whose hair-ribbon he had undone.
- (botany, of leaves) Having a large terminal lobe and smaller rounded lobes toward its base.
- 1976, T. G. Tutin, Flora Europaea, Volume 4: Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), page 72,
- Basal leaves simple, lyrate or pinnatifid; cauline leaves 1- to 2-pinnatifid, pinnatisect or simple.
- 1976, T. G. Tutin, Flora Europaea, Volume 4: Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), page 72,
Derived terms
edit- lyrate Asiatic hard clam (Meretrix lyrata)
- lyrate rockcress (Arabidopsis lyrata)
- lyrate rocksnail (†Leptoxis lirata[sic], extinct)
Noun
editlyrate (plural lyrates)
- A long curved feather found in a bird's tail.