Pedate

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Exhibiting a morphology that includes distinct, toe-like divisions
2. Having a form that shows separation into parts similar to toes
3. Displaying a shape characterized by separate parts resembling toes

Etymology: "Pedate" comes from Latin "pedatus," meaning "footed" or "having feet," formed from "pes" (genitive "pedis"), the Latin word for foot. The same root gives English "pedal," "pedestrian," and "pedicure," so the word is essentially a close relative of the everyday word for the part of the body we walk on. In botany and zoology, the term is used for leaves or structures whose lobes spread out like fingers or toes from a common point, as with some palmate leaves. The adjective is a technical coinage from Latin rather than an ancient descriptive word, so its usage belongs to the scientific vocabulary of the 18th and 19th centuries when naturalists were naming plant and animal forms.