metamerism

[muh-tam-uh-riz-uh m]

noun

Zoology.

division into metameres, the developmental process of somite formation.
existence in a metameric state.

Chemistry. isomerism resulting from the attachment of different groups to the same atom, as C2H5NHC2H5 and CH3NHC3H7.

Nearby words

Origin of metamerism

1840–50; (in def 1) metamere + -ism; (in def 2) meta- + (iso)merism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for metamerism

In Chiton the renal organs are not affected by the metamerism as they are in Nautilus.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6|Various
In accordance with the metamerism of Nautilus already noticed, there are two pairs of renal organs.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6|Various
The only other example which we have of this metamerism in the Mollusca is presented by the Chitons.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6|Various
In the articulates the metamerism is chiefly external—an articulation of the body wall.
The Wonders of Life|Ernst Haeckel

British Dictionary definitions for metamerism

metamerism

noun

Also called: metameric segmentation, segmentation the division of an animal into similar segments (metameres). In many vertebrates it is confined to the embryonic nervous and muscular systems

chem a type of isomerism in which molecular structures differ by the attachment of different groups to the same atom, as in CH 3 OC 3 H 7 and C 2 H 5 OC 2 H 5

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

Medicine definitions for metamerism

metamerism

[mə-tăm′ə-rĭz′əm]

n.

The condition of having the body divided into metameres, exhibited in most animals only in the early embryonic stages of development.