Branchlike

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Consisting of or resembling a structure that extends outwards like a branch
2. Pertaining to shapes or forms that mimic the appearance of tree branches or extensions
3. Describing features that project or diverge in a manner similar to branches of a plant

Etymology: "Branchlike" is a plain compound: the noun "branch" with the suffix "-like" attached, meaning "resembling" or "having the form of" what the first part names. The suffix traces back through Old English "-līc" to a Proto-Germanic root that also gave English "like" in its sense of "similar," and "-like" was used this way for centuries before it became a productive tool for coining new adjectives. The noun "branch" has a longer, more tangled history. It came into English from Old French "branche," which descended from Latin "branca," meaning a paw or claw of an animal, before it came to mean a limb of a tree. That makes the word's original sense something quite different from the tree-limb meaning it carries today, and the Latin source itself is of uncertain origin. Attaching "-like" to "branch" produces an adjective for anything that looks like a tree limb or a forking extension, whether that is a river delta, a system of veins, or a lightning strike.

Synonyms: bushy, twiggy