metabolousadj.1
/mᵻˈtabələs/, /mɛˈtabələs/, U.S. /məˈtæbələs/ Entomology. Now rare. Perhaps disused.
Of an insect: that undergoes metamorphosis. Cf. Metabola n.Cf. hemimetabolous adj. at hemimetabola n. Derivatives, holometabolous adj. at Holometabola n. Derivatives, paurometabolous adj.
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1844 C. Knight Pict. Museum Animated Nature II. 358/1 An ametabolous larva, or nymph of an Hemipterous insect (Zelus); the others are metabolous.
1856 J. Hogg Microscope (ed. 2) ii. v. 303 Some metabolous insects.
1877 T. H. Huxley Man. Anat. Invertebrated Animals vii. 424 The metabolous Coleoptera, or Beetles.
1883 Amer. Naturalist 17 944 The primitive Coleopterous larva may have sprung from some metabolous Neuropterous form.
1902 Amer. Naturalist 36 29 In the larvæ of metabolous insects..the development of these organs is retarded.
1966 V. J. A. Novák Insect Hormones iii. 174 In metabolous insects it [sc. the oligopod stage] occurs in either the embryonic or larval period.
1971 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (ed. 3) VII. 158/2 Metabolous: Distinct changes, both in size and form, are evident.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
metabolousadj.2
/mᵻˈtabələs/, /mɛˈtabələs/, U.S. /məˈtæbələs/ Nuclear Physics. rare (now historical).
Containing metabolons; of the nature of a metabolon.
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1986 A. Pais Inward Bound vi. 119 In 1907, these ruminations about metabolous matter led to an important positive result: the discovery..that potassium and rubidium are radioactive.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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