Crypsis
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The ability of an organism to avoid observation. uncountable
"Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close[…]above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world—camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background."
Example
More examples"Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close[…]above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world—camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background."
Etymology
Probably directly from Ancient Greek κρύψις (krúpsis, “hiding, concealment”); compare Latin crypsis. Doublet of krypsis.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.