plesiomorphic
Syllables: ple·sio·mor·phicUS/ˌplizioʊˈmɔɹfɪk/
plesiomorphic adjective: sharing a character state with an ancestral clade; primitive.
Adjective
plesiomorphic (comparative more plesiomorphic, superlative most plesiomorphic)
- Sharing a character state with an ancestral clade; primitive.
- [T]he cockroach Polyphaga may represent a condition more plesiomorphic than in other Dictyoptera, but it could as well be paedomorphic, and therefore more derived than in other Dictyoptera [72].2000, Christine A. Nalepa, Claudio Bandi, “Paedomorphosis and Termite Evolution”, in Termites: Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology, →ISBN, page 68
- "The cranium is clearly plesiomorphic in overall form, presenting primitive traits shared by earlier hominins," the authors wrote.2025 September 27, Julia Jacobo, “Million-year-old skull could rewrite timeline of human origin, researchers say”, in ABC News, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2026
- Plesiomorphous.
Synonyms of plesiomorphic
Forms of plesiomorphic
| comparative | more plesiomorphic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most plesiomorphic |
Origin of plesiomorphic
From plesiomorph + -ic or plesio- + -morphic.
Words formed from plesiomorphic
Questions about plesiomorphic
- What does plesiomorphic mean?
- Plesiomorphic means sharing a character state with an ancestral clade; primitive.
- What part of speech is plesiomorphic?
- Plesiomorphic is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce plesiomorphic?
- Plesiomorphic is pronounced /ˌplizioʊˈmɔɹfɪk/ (US).
Words near plesiomorphic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: plesiomorphic (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: “plesiomorphic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/plesiomorphic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.