arachnomorphae
|a-rach-no-mor-phae|
🇺🇸
/əˌræknəˈmɔrfi/
🇬🇧
/əˌræknəˈmɔːfi/
spider-like forms
Etymology
'arachnomorphae' originates from Greek, specifically the words 'aráchnē' and 'morphḗ', where 'aráchnē' meant 'spider' and 'morphḗ' meant 'form'.
'arachnomorphae' was formed by combining Greek roots and adopted into New Latin/biological Latin as a taxonomic name (Arachnomorphae), and this scientific usage carried into modern English scholarly texts.
Initially the roots meant 'spider' + 'form' in Greek; over time the compound has come to denote a specific taxonomic grouping of spider‑like arthropods in scientific contexts.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a taxonomic grouping (clade) of arthropods characterized by spider‑like body forms; a term used in paleontology and systematic biology to refer to spider‑like or arachnid‑related forms.
Researchers examined several fossil specimens assigned to Arachnomorphae to study early arachnid evolution.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/10/01 07:48