Word of the Day

: February 20, 2010

saxicolous

adjective sak-SIK-uh-lus

What It Means

: inhabiting or growing among rocks

saxicolous in Context

As a graduate student, Pam studied saxicolous lichens above the treeline in three different parts of the Canadian Rockies.

Did You Know?

"Saxicolous." It's not a word that exactly rolls off the tongue, but it's a useful designation for botanists. The word is from Latin, naturally. "Saxum" is Latin for "rock," and "colous" (meaning "living or growing in or on") traces back to Latin "-cola" meaning "inhabitant." Other "colous" offspring include "arenicolous" ("living, burrowing, or growing in sand"), "cavernicolous" ("inhabiting caves"), and "nidicolous" ("living in a nest" or "sharing the nest of another kind of animal"). All of these words were coined in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to describe the flora and fauna of our world.