dehiscence
/dɪˈhɪsəns/ noun
Forms dehiscences
- noun (botany) Opening of an organ by its own means (such as an anther or a seed pod) to release its contents.
- noun (medicine) A rupture, as with a surgical wound opening up, often with a flow of serous fluid.
- noun (rare) Opening, gaping, in a general sense.
Etymology
From New Latin dehiscentia (in Linnaeus), from Latin dehiscentem, present participle of dehiscō. By surface analysis, dehisce + -ence.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The act of gaping.
- noun A gaping or bursting open along a definite line of attachment or suture, without tearing, as in the opening of pods, or the bursting of capsules at maturity so as to emit seeds, etc.; also, the bursting open of follicles, as in the ovaries of animals, for the expulsion of their contents.
Etymology [Cf. F. déhiscence.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dehiscence”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details