reticulate
/ri'tikjulit/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Resembling or forming a network: Having a pattern or structure that looks like a net or web, with lines crossing each other.
- Characterized by a network: Composed of or marked by interconnected lines or channels.
Verb:
- To divide or mark so as to form a network: To create a pattern of crossing lines.
- To distribute by or as if by a network: To send or supply something through an interconnected system.
- To form a net or network: To become arranged in a net-like structure.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- The leaf had a beautiful reticulate pattern of veins.
- The geologist studied the reticulate system of cracks in the rock.
Verb:
- The artist used a fine pen to reticulate the surface of the drawing.
- The utility company works to reticulate electricity to rural areas.
- Over time, the roots began to reticulate, forming a dense mat.
Advanced Usage
"Reticulate evolution": In biology, a pattern of evolution where lineages split and merge again, forming a network rather than a simple tree.
- The study of horizontal gene transfer often reveals reticulate evolution in bacteria.
"Reticulate venation": A specific term in botany describing the net-like pattern of veins in a leaf.
- Maple leaves are a classic example of leaves with reticulate venation.
Variants and Related Words
- Reticulated (adj): Often used interchangeably with "reticulate," especially to describe something made into a network (e.g., ).
- Reticulation (n): The act or process of forming a network; the resulting network pattern.
- The reticulation of the irrigation system was highly efficient.
Synonyms
- Adjective: Netlike, webbed, meshed, latticed, interconnected.
- Verb: Network, interlace, interconnect, mesh, web.
Antonyms
- Adjective: Simple, linear, unbranched, solid.
- Verb: Simplify, straighten, disconnect.
Related Phrases
- "To become reticulated": To develop into a network form.
- The clay cracked and became reticulated as it dried in the sun.
Adjective
- resembling or forming a network
- the reticulate veins of a leaf
- a reticulated highway system
Verb
- divide so as to form a network
- distribute by a network, as of water or electricity
- form a net or a network