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

Igitur ut a paternis uitiis prudenter desciuit, ita auitis uirtutibus feliciter respondit, remotiorem pariter ac pr�stantiorem hereditarii moris portionem amplexus.

From Beowulf An Introduction to the Study of the Poem with a Discussion of the Stories of Offa and Finn by Chambers, R. W.

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