Word.ws English Dictionary

poikilohydry

poikilohydry noun: the condition of being poikilohydric; the lack of structural or functional mechanisms to actively regulate the equilibrium between the concentration of water in cell tissue and that in the environment.

Noun

poikilohydry (uncountable)

  1. The condition of being poikilohydric; the lack of structural or functional mechanisms to actively regulate the equilibrium between the concentration of water in cell tissue and that in the environment.
    • Poikilohydry occurs in such organisms as lichens and bryophytes, which lack mechanisms such as waterproofing cuticles or stomata that can help resist desiccation.
    • Frequently, poikilohydry is coupled with the capacity to tolerate dehydration or low water content of cell tissue and to recover from it without physiological damage.

Origin of poikilohydry

From poikilo- + -hydry or a noun-forming modification of poikilohydric (see -y); compare homoiohydry.

Questions about poikilohydry

What does poikilohydry mean?
Poikilohydry means the condition of being poikilohydric; the lack of structural or functional mechanisms to actively regulate the equilibrium between the concentration of water in cell tissue and that in the environment.
What part of speech is poikilohydry?
Poikilohydry is a noun.

Words near poikilohydry in the dictionary

  1. poikiloderma congenitale
  2. poikilodermas
  3. poikilodermatous
  4. poikilohydric
  5. poikilohydrous
  6. poikilohydry
  7. poikilotherm
  8. poikilothermal
  9. poikilothermia
  10. poikilothermic
  11. poikilothermism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: poikilohydry (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: “poikilohydry.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/poikilohydry. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.