Definition

1. 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.

2. 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

1. resembling or forming a network
   • the reticulate veins of a leaf
   • a reticulated highway system

Verb

1. divide so as to form a network
2. distribute by a network, as of water or electricity
3. form a net or a network