Category Archives: Interesting Words

This is a series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is calathiform: of the shape of a basket, from the Latin, calathus. Hemispherical or concave, like a bowl or cup.

Twelve flowers on three inflorescences on a 33-leaf plant 19-cm high and 14-cm wide mounted vertically covering the front of a small barkless log; leaves elliptical, entire, 3.5 cm wide by 5.0 cm long borne singly on cylindrical pseudobulbs 0.4 cm wide by 1.0 cm tall; sepals, petals and lip pure white; rolled dorsal sepal projects forward over column; lip calathiform (cup shaped); column white, brown on superior surface, black spot apically; substance firm; texture crystalline; strongly fragrant, reminiscent of cinnamon; recognized as a lovely alba form of the species; https://www.aos.org/sitf-blog/meiracyllium-trinasutum-var-album-2023-04-30.aspx

This is a series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is aciniform: of the shape of a cluster of grapes, from the Latin, acinus.

Aciniform spider’s silk:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702111700578

Structure of spinnerets

The paired spinnerets have one to three segments. They are highly maneuverable for silk spinning and may be quite short or relatively long (as long as the abdomen in some mygalomorph spiders). The end segment of each spinneret has many spigots – hollow, hair-like silk outlets connected to particular paired silk glands within the abdomen. Each gland opens on the spinnerets either via one or two spigots (ampullate glands), several spigots (cylindrical glands), or many spigots (pyriform and aciniform glands). In addition, the cylindrical and aciniform glands open onto two spinnerets. https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/silk-the-spiders-success-story/

This is a series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is styloid: shaped like a style or pen, from the Greek.

The styloid process is a cylindrical, slender, needle-like projection of varying lengths averaging 2 to 3 cm. The styloid process projects from the inferior part of the petrous temporal bone and offers attachment to the stylohyoid ligament and the stylohyoid, stylopharyngeus, and styloglossus muscles.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31082019/#:~:text=The%20styloid%20process%20is%20a,%2C%20stylopharyngeus%2C%20and%20styloglossus%20muscles.

This is a series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is scaphoid: shaped like a boat, from the Greek, skaphos meaning “boat.”

The scaphoid bone is one of the carpal bones of the wrist. It is situated between the hand and forearm on the thumb side of the wrist (also called the lateral or radial side). It forms the radial border of the carpal tunnel. The scaphoid bone is the largest bone of the proximal row of wrist bones, its long axis being from above downward, lateralward, and forward. It is approximately the size and shape of a medium cashew nut.

The word scaphoid (Greek: σκαφοειδές) is derived from the Greek skaphos, which means “a boat”, and the Greek eidos, which means “kind”.[7] The name refers to the shape of the bone, supposedly reminiscent of a boat. In older literature about human anatomy,[4] the scaphoid is referred to as the navicular bone of the hand (this time from the Latin navis for boat); there is also a bone in a similar position in the foot, which is called the navicular. The modern term for the bone in the hand is scaphoid; in human anatomy the term navicular is reserved for the bone in the foot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaphoid_bone

This is series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is hastiform: shaped like an arrow head, from the Latin, hasta meanding “spear.”

The Sporting Review, 1855.

The bows of these hunters were by no means formidable in size, the same scarcely exceeding two feet in length, being constructed in the form of two crescents, intra-connected by a straight band. The constituent elements of these instruments of the chase were composed of the wood of the bamboo, and the tough, unyielding horn of the wild buffalo. To the extremities of the bows the strings were attached by means of grooves or notches calculated to receive them; and there is more than an ordinary share of strength required to string these bows. The latter occupy a very small space of room when drawn to their

utmost tension, and will dismiss an arrow with so great a force, that they will do inevitable execution, if directed at a living object, at a distance of one hundred yards.

The arrows are made from the common reed (Arundo fluviatilis), being about two feet and a half in length, surmounted at one extremity by sharp hastiform blades, which are fluted or grooved, and the subtle poison is carefully introduced into these cavities. These men, upon the whole, form a very striking contrast when compared with our English sportsmen, whose field services are very far removed from oriental scenery.

https://books.google.com/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&pg=PA278&dq=hastiform&id=7IUEAAAAQAAJ#v=onepage&q=hastiform&f=false

This is a series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is fusiform: shaped like a spindle, from the Latin, fusus.

Body Form

Perches are the most common type of bony fishes. As a result, people often use the words perch-like to describe a generic fish shape. (Fig. 4.21 A). Fusiform is the scientific term used to describe the perch’s streamlined, torpedo shaped body. 

Fig. 4.21. (A) Perch (fusiform-torpedo shape)

Image Courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/biological/fish/structure-and-function-fish