Actinal
adj
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Pertaining to the side or surface around the mouth in an animal that has radial symmetry such as a starfish.
"The so-called mouth is always placed at one of these poles, and from it radiate the most prominent organs, in consequence of which I have called this side of the body the oral or actinal area ..."
- 2 Pertaining to the axis of rotational symmetry in radiate animals.
"[Professor Agassiz] gives the names of two axes of the animals; that around which the motion of the animal occurs is the actinal axis ..."
Adjective
- 1 (of radiate organisms) located on the surface or end on which the mouth is situated wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"The so-called mouth is always placed at one of these poles, and from it radiate the most prominent organs, in consequence of which I have called this side of the body the oral or actinal area ..."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀκτίς, ἀκτῖν- (aktís, aktîn-, “ray”) + -al. The usage was coined by Louis Agassiz (See quotations below.).