thin-septate
|thin-sep-tate|
/θɪnˈsɛpteɪt/
having thin dividing walls
Etymology
'thin-septate' originates from English compound elements: 'thin' (Old English 'þynne', meaning 'not thick') and 'septate' from Latin 'septum', where 'septum' meant 'a fence' or 'partition'.
'septate' changed from Latin 'septum' into Medieval/Neo-Latin forms (e.g. 'septatus') used in scientific Latin, and then into the modern English adjective 'septate' (19th century) meaning 'divided by septa'; 'thin-septate' is a more recent English compound combining 'thin' + 'septate' to specify the thickness of the septa.
Initially, 'septum' meant a physical fence or enclosure, but in biological contexts it came to mean a dividing wall within tissues or cells; 'septate' thus came to mean 'having septa', and 'thin-septate' specifies that those septa are thin.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
having septa (cross-walls) that are thin; used especially in mycology and histology to describe hyphae, spores, or cells divided by thin septa.
The fungal hyphae were thin-septate, which helped distinguish them from related thick-septate species.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/06 13:26