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

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

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.

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

The least fragment of bone, the smallest apophysis, has a determinative character in relation to the class, the order, the genus, and species to which it may belong.

From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 15 — Science by Hammerton, John Alexander, Sir

The human bones, of indeterminate race, included an upper left maxillary, still retaining three teeth, an incomplete mastoid apophysis, and seven pieces of crania, belonging to different individuals.

From Manners and Monuments of Prehistoric Peoples by D'Anvers, N.