Scorpionate

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A ligand having a tridentate form.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Being tridentate, so as to bind to a metal in a fac manner (or facial; said of an isomer when three of its ligands, when identical, occupy one face of an octahedron). not-comparable

Etymology

Etymology 1

From scorpion + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), from the pincer-like nature of the binding.

Etymology 2

From a substantivation of the above adjective. Equivalent to scorpion + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.