English edit

 
Lichen growing on a rock.

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin līchēn, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn), from λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick”). Originally used of liverwort; the modern sense first recorded 1715

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

lichen (countable and uncountable, plural lichens or lichen)

  1. Any of many symbiotic organisms, being associations of algae and fungi, often found as white or yellow-to-blue–green patches on rocks, old walls, etc.
  2. (figurative) Something which gradually spreads across something else, causing damage.
    Synonym: cancer

Hyponyms edit

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. 1.0 1.1 lichen”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  2. 2.0 2.1 lichen”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
  3. 3.0 3.1 lichen”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

French edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin lichen, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

lichen m (plural lichens)

  1. lichen

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Latin edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

līchēn m (genitive līchēnos or līchēnis); third declension

  1. (literally) a cryptogamic species of vegetation growing on trees, lichen
  2. (transferred sense, medicine) an eruption on the skin of men and beasts, a tetter, ringworm
    1. (and especially) a callous excrescence upon the leg of a horse, used as a medicine

Declension edit

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant or non-Greek-type).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative līchēn līchēnes
līchēnēs
Genitive līchēnos
līchēnis
līchēnum
Dative līchēnī līchēnibus
Accusative līchēna
līchēnem
līchēnas
līchēnēs
Ablative līchēne līchēnibus
Vocative līchēn līchēnes
līchēnēs

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

  • English: lichen
  • French: lichen
  • Portuguese: líquen
  • Spanish: liquen

References edit

  • līchēn”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • līchēn in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 909/3
  • līchēn” on page 1,029/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French lichen.

Noun edit

lichen m (plural licheni)

  1. lichen

Declension edit