bimorphic
|bi-mor-phic|
🇺🇸
/baɪˈmɔːrfɪk/
🇬🇧
/baɪˈmɔːfɪk/
two forms
Etymology
'bimorphic' originates from Latin and Greek elements: specifically the prefix 'bi-' from Latin 'bi-' meaning 'two', and the root element 'morph' ultimately from Greek 'morphē' meaning 'form'.
'bimorphic' is a modern scientific formation combining Latin 'bi-' and Greek-derived 'morph' (via New Latin/modern scientific English); this combination produced the adjective 'bimorphic' in scientific usage in the 19th–20th centuries.
Initially, the components meant 'two' and 'form', so the combined sense was 'having two forms'; over time the term has retained this core meaning and is used mainly in biological and descriptive contexts.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
having or occurring in two distinct forms or morphs.
The population is bimorphic: males and females have noticeably different color patterns.
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Adjective 2
(biology) Exhibiting two different morphological types within a species or life cycle (e.g., two distinct forms in different seasons or sexes).
Some insects are bimorphic, with winged and wingless forms depending on environmental conditions.
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Last updated: 2025/09/10 13:25