autotomy
/ɔːˈtɒtəmi/
autotomy noun: the spontaneous removal of a limb, tail etc, especially by some invertebrates as a self-defense mechanism.
Noun
autotomy (countable and uncountable, plural autotomies)
- The spontaneous removal of a limb, tail etc, especially by some invertebrates as a self-defense mechanism.
- She has dropped it by autotomy, like the tail or claw of a fleeing lizard, lobster, or starfish.1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae
autotomy meaning in Tamil and Indonesian
autotomy in Tamil
- invertebrate self-defense mechanism
- தற்பிரிவு taṟpirivu
autotomy in Indonesian
- invertebrate self-defense mechanism
- autotomi
Forms of autotomy
| plural | autotomies |
|---|
Origin of autotomy
From auto- + -tomy, after German Autotomie or French autotomie.
Words formed from autotomy
Questions about autotomy
- What does autotomy mean?
- Autotomy means the spontaneous removal of a limb, tail etc, especially by some invertebrates as a self-defense mechanism.
- What is autotomy in Tamil?
- Autotomy in Tamil is தற்பிரிவு (taṟpirivu). See Autotomy meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is autotomy?
- Autotomy is a noun.
- How do you pronounce autotomy?
- Autotomy is pronounced /ɔːˈtɒtəmi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of autotomy?
- The plural of autotomy is autotomies.
Words near autotomy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: autotomy (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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Cite this entry: “autotomy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/autotomy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.