fusiform

[fyoo-zuh-fawrm]

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adjective

spindle-shaped; rounded and tapering from the middle toward each end, as some roots.

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. 2019

Related Words for fusiform

acuminate, taper, wedged, conical, acuminous, fusiform, pyramidal

Examples from the Web for fusiform

Historical Examples of fusiform

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.
Zoological Illustrations, Volume I
William Swainson
Fusiform, like radishes, when thicker in the middle, tapering at both ends.
Harper's Round Table, August 20, 1895
Various

British Dictionary definitions for fusiform

fusiform

adjective

elongated and tapering at both ends; spindle-shaped

Word Origin for fusiform

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.

fusiform in Medicine

fusiform

[fyōō′zə-fôrm′]

adj.

Tapering at each end; spindle-shaped.