tropo-, trop-, -tropal, -trope(s), -tropic, -tropism, -tropia, -tropous, -tropy, trep-
(Greek: bend, curve, turn, a turning; response to stimulus)
Don't confuse this tropo-, -tropy element with tropho-, meaning "food, nourishment, nutrition".
acrotropism, acrotropic
An orientation response resulting in the continued growth of a plant in the direction in which growth originally commenced.
aerotropism, aerotropic
1. Movement of an organism toward (positive aerotropism) or away from (negative aerotropism) a supply of air.
2. The growth or movement of an organism toward an air supply; such as, an air bubble in a bacterial culture chamber.
4. An orientation response to a gaseous stimulus.
ageotropism
1. The absence of orientation movements in response to gravity.
2. Turning away from the earth.
3. A reference to parts of plants that would be expected to grow as gravity pulls them down, but instead grow upward; such as, the knee roots of cypress trees.
allotropy, allotropism
1. The existence of a solid substance in different physical forms.
Tin, for example, has metallic and non-metallic crystalline forms. Carbon has two crystalline allotropes: diamond and graphite.
The term allotropes may also be used to refer to the molecular forms of an element; such as, a diatomic gas, even if there is only one such additional form.
2. The existence of an element in two or more distinct forms with different physical properties.
amphitropous
Half inverted and straight, with the hilum (scar or point of attachment of the seed) lateral; an ovule that is curved back along its funiculus (free stalk of an ovule or seed) so that the base and micropyle (minute opening on the ovule through which the pollen tube usually enters) are close together. Describes an ovule or a seed.
anatropous
An ovule that is inverted and straight, with the micropyle next to the hilum and the radicle (portion of the embryo below the cotyledons that will form the roots, more properly called the caudicle) consequently inferior (lower or below).
anisotropic
1. Having unequal responses to external stimuli.
2. Having properties that vary depending on the various directions of measurements.
3. Not having properties that are the same in all directions.
4. Showing different properties as to velocity of light transmission, conductivity of heat or electricity, compressibility, and so on, in different directions.
anisotropy
1. The departure of cosmic microwave radiation from equal intensity in all direcions.
2. The property of a plant that assumes a certain position in response to an external stimulus.
3. The condition of having unequal responses to external stimuli.
Atropos
In Greek mythology, one of the three Fates who influenced human destiny. Atropos was known as the Inexorable, and carried the shears that cut the thread of life.
The Greek goddesses of destiny. In Greek mythology, the three goddesses, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, often depicted as women of advanced years spinning, were believed to decree the events in and duration of someone’s life. The Greeks believed that Clotho spun the thread that represented a person’s life, Lachesis decided the extent (or length) of it, and Atropos was the one who cut it at the determined span of time.
autotropic
In botany, tending to grow in straight line.
autotropism
In botany, the tendency to grow in a straight line unaffected by external factors.
barotropic
barotropism
chemotropism
1. The tendency of an organism or part of an organism to bend toward or away from a chemical stimulus.
2. An orientation response to a chemical stimulus.
dextrotropic
Inter-related cross references involving word units meaning "bend, curve, turn":
diversi-;
diverticul-;
flect-, flex-;
gyro-;
meand-;
-plex;
streph-;
stroph-;
tors-;
verg-;
vers-;
volv-.
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