elater

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a click beetle of the family Elateridae, able to spring into the air with a clicking movement when placed on its back

   The luminous elater snapped its body and sprang upright from the table.

2. 2
   noun

   botany: an elongated cell or appendage that responds to changes in humidity and helps disperse the spores of liverworts or horsetails

   As the capsule dried, each elater twisted and helped scatter the spores.

From New Latin elater, from Greek elater, 'driver,' from elaunein, 'to drive.' The name suits both the beetle's springing mechanism and the hygroscopic structures that drive or scatter plant spores.

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