osculant

English

Etymology

From Latin osculans, osculantis, present participle of osculari (“to kiss”). See osculate.

Adjective

osculant (not comparable)

  1. Kissing; hence, touching or meeting; clinging.
  2. (zoology) Adhering closely; applied to certain creeping animals, such as caterpillars.
  3. (biology) Intermediate between two genera, groups, families, etc., and having some of the characteristics of each; interosculant.
    The genera by which two families approximate are called osculant genera.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for osculant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Anagrams
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