tropism

tropism
The phenomenon, observed in living organisms, of moving toward (positive t.) or away from (negative t.) a focus of light, heat, or other stimulus; usually applied to the movement of a portion of the organism as opposed to taxis, the movement of an entire organism. [G. trope, a turning]
- viral t. the specificity of a virus for a particular host tissue, determined in part by the interaction of viral surface structures with host cell-surface receptors.

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tro·pism 'trō-.piz-əm n involuntary orientation by an organism or one of its parts that involves turning or curving by movement or by differential growth and is a positive or negative response to a source of stimulation also a reflex reaction involving a tropism
tro·pis·tic trō-'pis-tik adj

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tro·pism (troґpiz-əm) [Gr. tropē a turn, turning] the turning, bending, movement, or growth of an organism or part of an organism in response to an external stimulus. Such response may be either positive (toward) or negative (away from) the stimulus. Cf. taxis (def. 1).

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • tropism — TROPÍSM, tropisme, s.n. Tendinţă de acomodare şi de orientare a unui organism vegetal fixat de pământ, într o anumită direcţie, sub influenţa unei excitaţii exterioare ca lumina, căldura, gravitaţia, umiditatea etc. – Din fr. tropisme. Trimis de… …   Dicționar Român

  • -tropism — [trə piz΄əm] [< TROP(E) + ISM] combining form forming nouns tropism [heliotropism] …   English World dictionary

  • tropism — [trō′piz΄əm] n. [< TROPISM] the positive, or negative, attraction of a plant or sessile animal toward, or away from, a stimulus, as in the turning of a sunflower toward the light tropistic adj …   English World dictionary

  • Tropism — Tro pism (tr[=o] p[i^]z m), n. [Gr. troph a turning, tre pein to turn + ism.] (Physiol.) Modification of the direction of growth, caused by some external influence, such as light; sometimes used for motion of an organism toward or away from an… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tropism — 1899, tendency of an animal or plant to turn or move in response to a stimulus, abstracted from geotropism, ult. from Gk. tropos (see TROPE (Cf. trope)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • tropism — ► NOUN Biology ▪ the turning of all or part of an organism in response to an external stimulus. ORIGIN from Greek tropos turning …   English terms dictionary

  • Tropism — A tropism (from Greek, tropos , to turn) is a biological phenomenon, indicating growth or turning movement of a biological organism, usually a plant, in response to an environmental stimulus. In tropisms, this response is dependent on the… …   Wikipedia

  • tropism — noun Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary tropism Date: 1899 1. a. involuntary orientation by an organism or one of its parts that involves turning or curving by movement or by differential growth and is a positive or negative response… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • tropism — n. [Gr. tropos, turn] A movement, orientation or locomotion of a motile organism in response to a stimulus. a. Positive tropism: toward the stimulus. b. Negative tropism: away from the stimulus; see taxis …   Dictionary of invertebrate zoology

  • tropism — tropismatic /troh piz mat ik/, adj. tropistic /troh pis tik/, adj. /troh piz euhm/, n. Biol. an orientation of an organism to an external stimulus, as light, esp. by growth rather than by movement. [1895 1900; independent use of TROPISM] * * * ▪… …   Universalium

  • -tropism — trəˌpizəm, in some words .ˌtrōˌpizəm noun combining form ( s) Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary, from trope (I) + ism : tendency to turn toward : affinity for : tropism …   Useful english dictionary

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