suff.1. Order; arrangement: homotaxis. 2. Responsive movement; taxis: chemotaxis.
[From Greek, from taxis; see TAXIS.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2019 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
tax·is  (t ăk s ĭs)
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n. pl. tax·es (t ăk s ēz) 1. Biology The responsive movement of a free-moving organism or cell toward or away from an external stimulus, such as light. 2. Medicine The moving of a body part by manipulation into normal position, as after a dislocation, fracture, or hernia.
[Greek, arrangement, from tassein, tag-, to arrange.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2019 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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