Word.ws English Dictionary

amplexation

amplexation noun: an embrace.

Noun

amplexation

  1. (obsolete, rare) An embrace.
    • The angels were bright and glorious; thy appearance was homely, thy habit mean: yet, when she heard thy voice, she turns her back upon the angels, and salutes thee with a Rabboni; and falls down before thee, in a desire of an humble amplexation of those Sacred Feet, which she now rejoices to see...1612–1626, Joseph Hall, “[Contemplations upon the Principal Passages in the Holy Story. Book IV.] The Resurrection.”, in Josiah Pratt, editor, The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Joseph...
    • [...] blood and the spirit, by mutual amplexations or inbracements of these two vessels, the vein and the arterie being conjoyned and united in one very body, first beginning in the braded body, and then after in the[…]1654, Thomas RAYNALDE, The Birth of Mankind ... Fourth Edition, Corrected, Etc, page 33
  2. (dated, uncommon) The act of (forming the grip of) amplexus.
    • Amplexation of 'Pelodytes punctatus' […] Nevertheless, within certain limits, the species of a genus agree in their mode of amplexation; only a too strict taxonomy cannot be applied.1898, Theo. Gill, The tailless Batrachians of Europe, in Science, page 936
    • In accordance with these pairing habits, the pectoral spines of the male [catfish], which are used in amplexation, are larger and stronger than those of the female. These fish are monogamous , and both parents remain by the side of the nest, furiously attacking any assailant.1910, Hugh Chisholm, The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information, page 514
    Synonyms:
    amplection//amplexion

Examples of amplexation in a sentence

  • Truth oft hath approbation, without Amplexation; beleeved, but not embrac't of many. […] And I will not say, Saint Paul meant not so; though I will not say, he did.1637, Sermons preached by that reverend and learned divine Richard Clerke … published for the common good, by Charles White (printed in...
  • The amplexation is pectoral, not axillary.1914, Albert Hazen Wright, North American Anura: Life-histories of the Anura of Ithaca, New York:
  • He remains in amplexation until the female extrudes the eggs, when he immediately sheds the sperm over them.1928, Herbert Eugene Walter, Biology of the Vertebrates: A Comparative Study of Man and His Animal Allies, page 443:

Synonyms of amplexation

  • amplection//amplexion

Origin of amplexation

From Latin amplexāt-, past participial stem of amplexor (“to embrace”), + -ion.

Questions about amplexation

What does amplexation mean?
Amplexation means an embrace.
How do you use amplexation in a sentence?
Truth oft hath approbation, without Amplexation; beleeved, but not embrac't of many. […] And I will not say, Saint Paul meant not so; though I will not say, he did.
What part of speech is amplexation?
Amplexation is a noun.

Words near amplexation in the dictionary

  1. ampleness
  2. ampler
  3. ampless
  4. amplest
  5. amplex
  6. amplexation
  7. amplexed
  8. amplexes
  9. amplexicaul
  10. amplexicauline
  11. amplexiform

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: amplexation (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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