Protandric

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing an organism, especially a hermaphroditic animal or plant, that functions first as a male and later changes into a female
2. Relating to a species whose individuals develop male reproductive organs early in life and then transform into females
3. Characterized by sexual development in which the male phase comes before the female phase within a single lifetime

Etymology: Protandric describes an organism, usually a flower or animal, whose males mature before its females. The term is built from "protandry," which combines the Greek "protos," meaning first, with "andros," meaning of a man or male, and the suffix "-ic," which turns a noun into an adjective. Protandry names the pattern itself, so protandric simply means "showing protandry." The sense is biological and quite literal: in a protandric plant, the anthers release pollen before the stigma is receptive, which reduces self-fertilisation. Many insects and marine animals show the same timing, with males emerging first so that they are ready when the females arrive. The word therefore carries no figurative weight; it reports a sequence of development in plain terms.

Synonyms: protandrous

Antonyms: protogynous