sematic

American  

[si-mat-ik] / sɪˈmæt ɪk /

adjective

Biology.

1. serving as a sign or warning of danger, as the conspicuous colors or markings of certain poisonous animals.

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sematic British  

/ sɪˈmætɪk /

adjective

1. (of the conspicuous coloration of certain animals) acting as a warning, esp to potential predators

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Etymology

Origin of sematic

1885–90; < Greek sēmat- (stem of sêma ) sign + -ic

Example Sentences

He is also demonstrating sematic aphasias: “steak mountain or steak hill,” instead of “Snake mountain.”

From Salon

The system functioned through the use of tags, identifiers embedded in each word to ensure appropriate syntactical and sematic applications, that worked in conjunction with templates that would properly place the words in a sentence.

From Slate

Sematic, sē-mat′ik, adj. significant: indicative, as of danger: ominous.—n.

From Project Gutenberg

It will be found that in many cases the argument here made use of applies equally to the origin of cryptic and sematic colours.

From Project Gutenberg

Use of Colour for Warning and Signalling, or Sematic Coloration.—The use of colour for the purpose of warning is the exact opposite of the one which has been just described, its object being to render the animal conspicuous to its enemies, so that it can be easily seen, well remembered, and avoided in future.

From Project Gutenberg