aposematism
Syllables: apo·se·mat·i·sm/ˌæpə(ʊ)sɪˈmætɪz(ə)m/US/ˌæpoʊsɪˈmætɪz(ə)m/
aposematism noun: an adaptation, especially a form of coloration, that warns off potential predators.
Noun
aposematism (plural aposematisms)
- An adaptation, especially a form of coloration, that warns off potential predators.
- First, the selection of "red" as a releaser in courtship and social chasing indicates a secondarily evolved use of aposematic coloring. It is assumed here that aposematism in this and other red-and-black heliconiids, and their correlated development of Müllerian mimicry, occurred in evolution...1954, Zoologica: Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological Society, New York, N.Y.: New York Zoological Society, →OCLC, page 193, column 1
- The co-occurrence of conspicuous coloration and noxious characteristics in many coastal marine species suggests that aposematism is a common predator deterrent in the marine environment.1990 June, Mary [K.] Wicksten, compiler, Adaptive Coloration in Invertebrates: Proceedings of a Symposium Sponsored by the American Society of Zoologists (TAMU-SG; 90-106), [Galveston, Tex.]: Texas...
aposematism meaning in Arabic, Malay, Indonesian and Persian
aposematism in Arabic
- adaptation that warns off potential predators
- مَظْهَر تَحْذِيرِيّ maẓhar taḥḏīriyy
aposematism in Malay
- adaptation that warns off potential predators
- aposematisme
aposematism in Indonesian
- adaptation that warns off potential predators
- aposematisme
aposematism in Persian
- adaptation that warns off potential predators
- رنگ هشدار
More languagesFewer languages
- aposematism in Vietnamese
- tín hiệu xua đuổi
Examples of aposematism in a sentence
- This could in turn make aposematism evolutionarily stable, as opposed to a constant arms race between toxicity, coloration and predator perception or toxic resistance2015 June, Lina María Arenas, Dominic Walter, Martin Stevens, “Signal Honesty and Predation Risk among a Closely Related Group of...
- We focus in this text on animal defences, but aposematism may apply in other groups.2018, Graeme D. Ruxton, William L. Allen, Thomas N. Sherratt, Michael P. Speed, “Aposematism”, in Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology...
Forms of aposematism
| plural | aposematisms |
|---|
Origin of aposematism
apo- (prefix meaning ‘away from’) (from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓πό (ăpó, “from, away from”)) + semat(ic) (“acting as a sign of danger”) (from Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma, “mark, sign, token”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰyeh₂- (“to notice”) + -μᾰ (-mă, suffix forming neuter nouns denoting the object or result of an action, or a particular instance of an action)) + -ism. The word aposematic was coined by British evolutionary biologist Edward Bagnall Poulton (1856–1943) in The Colours of Animals (1890).
Questions about aposematism
- What does aposematism mean?
- Aposematism means an adaptation, especially a form of coloration, that warns off potential predators.
- What is aposematism in Arabic?
- Aposematism in Arabic is مَظْهَر تَحْذِيرِيّ (maẓhar taḥḏīriyy). See Aposematism meaning in Arabic.
- How do you use aposematism in a sentence?
- This could in turn make aposematism evolutionarily stable, as opposed to a constant arms race between toxicity, coloration and predator perception or toxic resistance
- What part of speech is aposematism?
- Aposematism is a noun.
- How do you pronounce aposematism?
- Aposematism is pronounced /ˌæpə(ʊ)sɪˈmætɪz(ə)m/ (UK).
- What is the plural of aposematism?
- The plural of aposematism is aposematisms.
Words near aposematism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: aposematism (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-aposematism.wav.
Cite this entry: “aposematism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/aposematism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.