apophysis

American  

[uh-pof-uh-sis] / əˈpɒf ə sɪs /

noun

apophyses plural

1. Anatomy, Botany. an outgrowth; process; projection or protuberance.

2. Architecture. apophyge.

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apophysis British  

/ -seɪt, əˈpɒfɪsɪs, əˈpɒfɪsɪt, ˌæpəˈfɪzɪəl /

noun

1. a process, outgrowth, or swelling from part of an animal or plant

2. geology a tapering offshoot from a larger igneous intrusive mass

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Other Word Forms

• apophysary
  adjective
• apophysate
  adjective
• apophyseal
  adjective
• apophysial
  adjective
• interapophyseal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of apophysis

1605–15; < New Latin < Greek: offshoot, equivalent to apo- apo- + phýsis growth, equivalent to phý ( ein ) to bring forth + -sis -sis

Example Sentences

An ordinary Cow, and a Bull without horns, will produce a calf resembling the male in appearance and character, without horns and without that particular prominence of the transverse apophysis of the frontal bone.

From Delineations of the Ox Tribe The Natural History of Bulls, Bisons, and Buffaloes. Exhibiting all the Known Species and the More Remarkable Varieties of the Genus Bos. by Vasey, George

The apophysis represents the later and larger growth of the cone-scale.

From The Genus Pinus by Shaw, George Russell

In Ochrotomys, the orbicular apophysis of the malleus resembles the orbicular apophysis of B. musculus, but the short process of the incus is longer, resembling the short process of B. taylori.

From Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus Baiomys by Packard, Robert L.

Cones from 15 to 25 cm. long, narrow-cylindrical; apophyses tawny yellow or pale fulvous brown, prominently convex, the umbo against the apophysis beneath; seeds with a long wing.

From The Genus Pinus by Shaw, George Russell

The apophysis, which may be a more or less distinct region, usually bears stomata and is the main organ of assimilation.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various