Word.ws English Dictionary

teliferous

teliferous adjective: having nematocysts or stinging cells.

Adjective

teliferous (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) Having nematocysts or stinging cells.
    • The occurring British forms, though varying much in proportion and contour, fall naturally into four groups, marked by the respective characteristics of (1) One simple sac; (2) A single bi-lobed sac; (3) Two simple teliferous sacs; (4) Two sacs, each bi-lobed (fig. 3).1883 July, Charles Ashford, “The Darts of British Helicidæ: Part I., Introductory”, in Journal of Conchology, volume IV, number 3, Leeds, West Yorkshire: Taylor Bros, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 70
    • The introduction, a minute description of the organization of the sea-anemones, and in particular of their unique and extraordinary "teliferous" system, has been regarded as the most sustained piece of original writing of a technically scientific character which Philip Gosse has left behind him.1890, Edmund Gosse, The Life of Philip Henry Gosse F.R.S., London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., page 290

Origin of teliferous

From Latin tēlum (“dart, spear, missile, offensive weapon, javelin”) + -ferous (“producing, containing”).

Words that rhyme with teliferous

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about teliferous

What does teliferous mean?
Teliferous means having nematocysts or stinging cells.
What part of speech is teliferous?
Teliferous is an adjective.

Words near teliferous in the dictionary

  1. telic
  2. telical
  3. telically
  4. telicities
  5. telicity
  6. teliferous
  7. telimomab
  8. telinavir
  9. TELINT
  10. teliochrysalid
  11. teliochrysalids

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: teliferous (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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