Word.ws English Dictionary

klepton

UK/ˈklɛptɒn/

klepton noun: a species that requires input from another biological taxon (normally from a species which is closely related to the kleptonic species) to complete its reproductive cycle.

Noun

klepton (plural kleptons or klepta)

  1. A species that requires input from another biological taxon (normally from a species which is closely related to the kleptonic species) to complete its reproductive cycle.
    • Most kleptons are female, and some don’t use the genes of the male at all, merely deploying his sperm to stimulate the egg into development without fertilising it.2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 157

Forms of klepton

pluralkleptons
pluralklepta
alternative abbreviationkl.

Origin of klepton

From Ancient Greek κλέπτ(ης) (klépt(ēs), “thief”) + -on, after taxon.

Words formed from klepton

  • gynoklepton
  • kleptogenesis
  • kleptonic
  • synklepton
  • tychoklepton
  • zygoklepton

Questions about klepton

What does klepton mean?
Klepton means a species that requires input from another biological taxon (normally from a species which is closely related to the kleptonic species) to complete its reproductive cycle.
What part of speech is klepton?
Klepton is a noun.
How do you pronounce klepton?
Klepton is pronounced /ˈklɛptɒn/ (UK).
What is the plural of klepton?
The plural of klepton is kleptons.

Words near klepton in the dictionary

  1. kleptomaniacal
  2. kleptomaniacally
  3. kleptomaniacs
  4. kleptomanias
  5. kleptomnesia
  6. klepton
  7. kleptons
  8. kleptoparasite
  9. kleptoparasited
  10. kleptoparasites
  11. kleptoparasitic

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: klepton (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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