amplexus

American  

[am-plek-suhs] / æmˈplɛk səs /

noun

plural

amplexuses, amplexus

1. the clasping posture of fertilization in frogs and toads.

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Etymology

Origin of amplexus

1925–30; < New Latin, Latin: embrace, equivalent to amplect ( ī ) to embrace ( am-, variant of ambi- ambi- + plectī, deponent of plectere to plait, twine; complex, plexus ) + -tus suffix of v. action

Example Sentences

All the logic and desire that guides a female frog to a specific pond vanishes once she arrives, and a melee ensues as males race to cling to her in a tight embrace called amplexus.

From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2022

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Bombay Night frogs in Dorsal straddle: a new amplexus mode in frogs.

From The Guardian • Jun. 14, 2016

Male hyalinobatrachines battle on top of leaves and wrestle, with their fighting poses often resembling amplexus.

From Scientific American • Jan. 25, 2013

Claudius triremes quadriremesque et undeviginti hominum millia armavit, cincto ratibus ambitu, ne vaga effugia forent; ac tamen spatium amplexus, ad vim remigii, gubernantium artes, impetus navium, et proelio solita.

From Tacitus and Bracciolini The Annals Forged in the XVth Century by Ross, John Wilson

Tenuere parumper Ora metu, tantum nutu motoque salutant Ense suos; mox ut stimulis maioribus ardens 175 Rupit amor leges, audet transcendere vallum Miles, in amplexus effusas tendere palmas.

From Helps to Latin Translation at Sight by Luce, Edmund