Pennate

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterized by a feather-like structural arrangement, this term also describes certain diatoms marked by bilateral symmetry along a central axis and refers to specific growth patterns in select organisms resembling feathers
2. Having a form or structure arranged like the barbs of a feather extending from a central stalk
3. Displaying an organization resembling the feather pattern where elements branch off a main axis

Etymology: "Pennate" comes from Latin "pennātus," meaning "feathered" or "winged," from "penna," "feather." The Latin adjective describes something furnished with feathers or wings, and the English word carries that literal sense into the study of form: a pennate leaf is one whose leaflets sit on either side of a central stalk, much like the vanes of a feather on its shaft. The same image applies beyond leaves. In botany and anatomy, pennate describes arrangements where branches or fibers extend obliquely from a central axis in this feather-like pattern, as seen in some muscles and in certain pinnately organized plant structures. The word thus turns a plumage metaphor into a precise way of describing how a body is built.

Synonyms: feathered