apophysis

American  

[uh-pof-uh-sis] / əˈpɒf ə sɪs /

noun

plural

apophyses

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

The seta widens out at the base of the capsule into a region known as the apophysis.

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

It differs from P. canariensis in the usually protuberant apophysis of the cone, in the thick outer walls of the leaf-endoderm and in the nearly smooth walls of the ray-tracheids of the wood.

From The Genus Pinus by Shaw, George Russell

The lemurian apophysis already alluded to is not uncommon.

From Criminal Man According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso by Lombroso, Gina

The position of the umbo on the apophysis is the basis of Koehne's subdivision of the section Haploxylon.

From The Genus Pinus by Shaw, George Russell

With the dorsal umbo all sides of the apophysis are confined between other apophyses, and any extension is a dorsal thickening of the apophysis or a dorsal protuberance.

From The Genus Pinus by Shaw, George Russell