postfurcal
|post-fur-cal|
🇺🇸
/poʊstˈfɜr.kəl/
🇬🇧
/pəʊstˈfɜː.kəl/
after the fork
Etymology
'postfurcal' originates from Latin elements: the prefix 'post-' meaning 'after' and 'furca' meaning 'fork', with 'furcal' relating to a forked structure.
'furca' (Latin) yielded Medieval Latin 'furcalis' ('of or relating to a fork'), which entered scientific English as 'furcal' or 'furca'-derived terms; combining the productive prefix 'post-' with 'furcal' produced the composite adjective 'postfurcal' in technical usage.
Initially the parts meant 'after' + 'fork' in a literal sense; over time the combined form became a technical adjective used especially in biology/entomology to describe position relative to a fork, retaining the basic spatial sense.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
situated behind a fork; especially in entomology, located posterior to the fork of a vein or similar branching structure (e.g., a postfurcal crossvein).
The postfurcal crossvein is located just behind the fork of the main vein.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/10/03 03:09