zoomorphic

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The Word of the Day for October 24 is:

zoomorphic   \zoh-uh-MOR-fik\   adjective
    *1 : having the form of an animal 
     2 : of, relating to, or being a deity conceived of in animal form or with 
animal attributes 

Example sentence: 
     Sid's costume was going to be a pumpkin, but he changed it to a 
hippopatumus when he decided it looked more zoomorphic than vegetal.

Did you know?
     "Zoo-" (or "zo-") derives from the Greek word "zoion," meaning "animal," 
and "-morph" comes from the Greek "morphe," meaning "form." These two forms 
combined to give us the adjective "zoomorphic," which was first used in English 
to describe something that resembles an animal in 1872. English includes other 
words that were formed from "zoo-" or "zo-," such as "zoology" (made with 
"-logy," meaning "science"). We also have other words that were formed from 
"-morph," such as "pseudomorph," for a mineral having the outward form of 
another species. (The combining form "pseud-" or "pseudo-" means "false.")

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.





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