Keratoid

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having a hard, horny texture or appearance similar to that of horn or the protein keratin
2. Resembling horn in its structure, substance, or hardness, as with certain tissues or growths
3. Looking or feeling like keratin, the tough fibrous protein that makes up horn, hair, and nails

Etymology: "Keratoid" is a plain technical coinage with no folk story behind it: it combines "kerato-", a combining form from Greek "keras" (genitive "keratos"), meaning "horn," with the suffix "-oid," from Greek "eidos," meaning "form" or "resemblance." Together they describe something resembling horn in texture or substance. The "-oid" ending does most of the work in such formations. It turns a noun or combining form into an adjective meaning "like" or "resembling" the thing named, so words such as "humanoid" or "spheroid" follow the same pattern. The "kerato-" element appears in many scientific terms, particularly in anatomy and medicine, where the keratin-rich tissues of hair, nails, and skin are common subjects.

Synonyms: horny, hornlike, keratinous