decussate
English edit
In zoology, Chaetodon decussatus is a fish with decussate markings
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In botany, Swertia decussata is a plant with decussate foliage
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin decussātus from decussāre (“to divide crosswise, arrange crosswise or mark with a cross”), from decussis (“a 10 asses coin”), from decem (“ten”) + as (“a Roman coin”). Based on the cross marking on the decussis coin.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
decussate (comparative more decussate, superlative most decussate)
- Crossed; intersected; resembling a letter X.
- (zoology) Having anatomical structures or markings crossing each other, typically in an X shape or at right angles.
- (botany) Having opposite leaves arranged alternately at right angles.
- 1849, John Craig, “Juniperites”, in A New Universal Etymological, Technological, and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language, Embracing All the Terms Used in Art, Science, and Literature, volumes II (Jac–Zyt), London: Published (for the proprietors,) by Henry George Collins, 22 Paternoster Row, →OCLC, page 15:
- Juniperites, ju-ne-per-i′tis, s[ubstantive]. A genus of fossil plants, in which the branches are ranged irregularly; leaves short, obtuse, inserted by a broad base, opposite, decussate, and arranged in four rows.
- (rhetoric) Consisting of two rising and two falling clauses, placed in alternate opposition to each other.
- a decussated period
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
Verb edit
decussate (third-person singular simple present decussates, present participle decussating, simple past and past participle decussated)
- To form an X or to cross or intersect.
- 1949, Herbert Eugene Walter, Leonard Perkins Sayles, Biology of the Vertebrates:
- The two trochlears decussate in the anterior medullary velum.
Related terms edit
Italian edit
Adjective edit
decussate
Latin edit
Verb edit
decussāte