plagiotropic
|pla-gi-o-tro-pic|
🇺🇸
/ˌplædʒiəˈtroʊpɪk/
🇬🇧
/ˌplædʒiəˈtrɒpɪk/
growing/turning obliquely
Etymology
'plagiotropic' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the words 'plagios' and 'tropos', where 'plagios' meant 'oblique' and 'tropos' meant 'turning' or 'direction'.
'plagios' + 'tropos' passed into New/Neo-Latin and botanical Latin as forms like 'plagiotropus' or the combining stem 'plagiotrop-'; from scientific Latin usage it entered English as 'plagiotropic'.
Initially it meant 'oblique turning', but over time it became specialized in botany to mean 'growing or orienting at an oblique angle (not vertical)'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
(botany) Growing or oriented at an oblique angle to the vertical or to the direction of the stimulus; not orthotropic (not growing straight upward).
Many shrubs produce plagiotropic branches that grow more or less horizontally.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2026/01/08 10:31