Lophotrichous
/ˌlɒfəˈtrɪkəs/noun
Having a tuft or cluster of flagella at one or both poles, especially of a bacterium.
Did you know?In bacterial classification, lophotrichous organisms are distinguished from monotrichous, amphitrichous, and peritrichous bacteria by the precise arrangement of their flagella.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*welp- / *treik-
“Proposed ancestral roots associated with raised forms and hair; the exact compound is Greek-built rather than inherited as one PIE word.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
λόφος (lóphos)
“Crest, ridge, or tuft—especially a plume or crest on a helmet or animal.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
θρίξ, genitive τριχός (thríx, trichós)
“Hair; the genitive form τριχός supplied the combining form trich-.”
19th Century
Scientific Latin
lophotrichus
“A zoological or microbiological formation meaning bearing a crest-like tuft of hairs or filaments.”
Late 19th–Early 20th Century
English
lophotrichous
“Describing bacteria bearing a tuft of flagella at one pole or at both poles.”
Modern English
English
lophotrichous
“Having flagella grouped in tufts at one or both ends of a bacterial cell.”
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