radial symmetry

nounBiology.

a basic body plan in which the organism can be divided into similar halves by passing a plane at any angle along a central axis, characteristic of sessile and bottom-dwelling animals, as the sea anemone and starfish.

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Origin of radial symmetry

First recorded in 1885–90

Compare bilateral symmetry.

Words Nearby radial symmetry

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use radial symmetry in a sentence

But unipolar symmetry with diverging outgrowths leads us to the next category which may be called radial symmetry.
The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, October 1879 | Various
Lamarck thus accounts for the production of the radial symmetry of the medusæ and echinoderms, his Radiaires.
Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution | Alpheus Spring Packard
They have few or rudimentary arms and short stalks, and want the beautiful radial symmetry of the typical star-fishes.
The Chain of Life in Geological Time | Sir J. William Dawson
It is a two-layered organism, with a form varying from cylindrical to oval, and usually a radial symmetry.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4) | Francis Maitland Balfour
They have not, as is usually supposed, secondarily acquired their radial symmetry.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4) | Francis Maitland Balfour

British Dictionary definitions for radial symmetry

radial symmetry

noun

a type of structure of an organism or part of an organism in which a vertical cut through the axis in any of two or more planes produces two halves that are mirror images of each other: Compare bilateral symmetry

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 radial symmetry

radial symmetry

Symmetrical arrangement of parts of an organism around a single main axis, so that the organism can be divided into similar halves by any plane that contains the main axis. The body plans of echinoderms, ctenophores, cnidarians, and many sponges and sea anemones show radial symmetry. Compare bilateral symmetry.

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