elater

[ el-uh-ter ]

noun
  1. Botany. an elastic filament serving to disperse spores.

  2. Zoology. elaterid.

  1. Obsolete. elasticity.

Origin of elater

1
1645–55; <New Latin <Greek elatḗr driver, equivalent to ela- (stem of elaúnein to drive; see elastic) + -tēr noun suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use elater in a sentence

  • The individual threads, as in Trichia, are called elaters, from their probable efficiency in spore-dispersal.

    The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
  • The elaters resemble those of the preceding form, but are remarkably rough.

    The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
  • The elaters are never fusiform, the apices always abrupt in their acumination, and the sculpture irregular and uneven.

    The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
  • The elaters, so far as our observation goes, are the longest in the genus notable for their beautiful symmetry.

    The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
  • The elaters are quite constantly marked by imperfect spirals.

    The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride

British Dictionary definitions for elater

elater

/ (ˈɛlətə) /


noun
  1. an elaterid beetle

  2. botany a spirally thickened filament, occurring in liverwort capsules and horsetails, thought to aid dispersal of spores

Origin of elater

1
C17: via New Latin from Greek: driver, from elaunein to beat, drive; compare elastic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for elater

elater

[ ĕlə-tər ]


  1. A tiny elongated structure that helps disperse plant spores by coiling and uncoiling in response to changes in humidity. The elaters of horsetails are bands attached to the spore wall, while those of liverworts are sterile cells occurring among the spores.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.