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fusiform

[fyoo-zuh-fawrm]
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adjective
  1. spindle-shaped; rounded and tapering from the middle toward each end, as some roots.
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Origin of fusiform

1740–50; < Latin fūs(us) spindle + -i- + -form
Related formssub·fu·si·form, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

acuminatetaperwedgedconicalacuminousfusiformpyramidal

Examples from the Web for fusiform

Historical Examples

  • The root is fusiform and fleshy, and is the part most valued.

    The Conquest of Canada (Vol. 1 of 2)

    George Warburton

  • Bidentata has two denticles, fusiform and reddish-brown, as are all.

    Our British Snails

    John William Horsley

  • The heart is fusiform, and is divided by numerous constrictions into chambers.

    The Insect World

    Louis Figuier

  • Antenn slender, the club elongated, fusiform, and compressed.

  • Fusiform, like radishes, when thicker in the middle, tapering at both ends.

British Dictionary definitions for fusiform

fusiform

adjective
  1. elongated and tapering at both ends; spindle-shaped
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Word Origin

C18: from Latin fūsus spindle
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

Word Origin and History for fusiform

adj.

"spindle-shaped," 1746, from Latin fusus "spindle" (see fuse (n.)) + -form.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
fusiform in Medicine

fusiform

(fyōō′zə-fôrm′)
adj.
  1. Tapering at each end; spindle-shaped.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.