HETEROECIOUS

heteroecious

(adjective) of parasites; passing through different stages of the life cycle on different host species; “heteroecious fungi”; “heteroecious insects”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

heteroecious (comparative more heteroecious, superlative most heteroecious)

(biology) Of dependent organisms, spending portions of the life cycle on different types of hosts.

Synonyms

• heteroxenous

• metoecious

Antonyms

• autoecious

Source: Wiktionary


Het`er*o"cious, a. [Hetero- + Gr. house.] (Bot.)

Definition: Passing through the different stages in its life history on an alternation of hosts, as the common wheat-rust fungus (Puccinia graminis), and certain other parasitic fungi; -- contrasted with autocious. -- Het`er*o"cism (#), n.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

12 February 2025

MEGACOLON

(noun) an abnormal enlargement of the colon; can be congenital (as in Hirschsprung’s disease) or acquired (as when children refuse to defecate)


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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