patelliform

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   shaped like a shallow dish or a limpet shell

   The biologist found several patelliform shells attached firmly to the kelp.

2. 2
   adj

   botany: disk-shaped with a narrow raised rim

   The lichen formed a small patelliform fruiting body on the bark.

Formed from Latin patella, 'small pan or dish,' + -form, 'having the shape of.' Patella also became the zoological name of the limpet genus, so patelliform can mean either generally dish-shaped or specifically resembling a limpet shell.

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