vascular
UK /ˈvæskjələ/ · US /ˈvæskjəlɚ/ adjective
- adjective (anatomy) Relating to the flow of fluids, such as blood, lymph, or sap, through the body of an animal or plant, or to the vessels that carry such fluids
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From New Latin vasculāris, from Latin vasculum, diminutive of vas (“vessel”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective (a) Consisting of, or containing, vessels as an essential part of a structure; full of vessels; specifically (Bot.), pertaining to, or containing, special ducts, or tubes, for the circulation of sap. (b) Operating by means of, or made up of an arrangement of, vessels; as, the vascular system in animals, including the arteries, veins, capillaries, lacteals, etc. (c) Of or pertaining to the vessels of animal and vegetable bodies; as, the vascular functions.
- adjective Of or pertaining to the higher division of plants, that is, the phænogamous plants, all of which are vascular, in distinction from the cryptogams, which to a large extent are cellular only. Vascular plants (Bot.), plants composed in part of vascular tissue, as all flowering plants and the higher cryptogamous plants, or those of the class Pteridophyta. Cf. Cellular plants, Cellular.
Etymology [L. vasculum a small vessel, dim. of vas vessel: cf. F. vasculaire. See Vase, and cf. Vessel.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “vascular”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details