acyclic
Origin of acyclic
1Words Nearby acyclic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use acyclic in a sentence
In acyclic flowers there is often a gradual transition from petals to stamens, as in the white water-lily (fig. 31).
In the latter case the motion is said to be cyclic, in the former acyclic.
Lord Kelvin | Andrew Gray
British Dictionary definitions for acyclic
/ (eɪˈsaɪklɪk, eɪˈsɪklɪk) /
chem not cyclic; having an open chain structure
botany having flower parts arranged in a spiral rather than a whorl
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for acyclic
[ ā-sī′klĭk, ā-sĭk′lĭk ]
Not cyclic. Used especially of flowers whose parts are arranged in spirals rather than in whorls, as in magnolias.
Having an open-chain molecular structure rather than a ring-shaped structure.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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