asporulate
|a-spor-u-late|
🇺🇸
/əˈspɔr.jə.leɪt/
🇬🇧
/əˈspɒr.jʊ.leɪt/
not making spores
Etymology
'asporulate' originates from New Latin/modern scientific English, formed by the negative prefix 'a-' + 'sporulate'; 'a-' comes from Greek 'a-' meaning 'not' or 'without', and 'spor-' ultimately from Greek 'spora' meaning 'seed' or 'sowing' (hence 'spore').
'spora' (Greek) → 'spora' (Late Latin) → 'spore' (Middle English) → 'sporulate' (modern scientific English, 'to form spores') → 'asporulate' (modern formation by adding the negative prefix 'a-').
Initially formed to mean 'not producing spores' in specialist biological usage; this specific sense has been retained in modern scientific contexts.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Verb 1
to fail to form spores (intransitive); less commonly, to render (an organism) incapable of producing spores (transitive).
Under certain environmental stresses the culture may asporulate instead of sporulate.
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Adjective 1
not forming or producing spores; lacking spore formation (used of fungi, bacteria, or other spore-producing organisms).
An asporulate strain of the fungus failed to produce spores under laboratory conditions.
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Last updated: 2025/11/01 02:46