oligomerousadj.
/ˌɒlᵻˈɡɒm(ə)rəs/, U.S. /ˌɑləˈɡɑm(ə)rəs/, /ˌoʊləˈɡɑm(ə)rəs/ 1. Zoology. Having a relatively small number of segments or compartments.
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1857 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) Oligomerus, applied by Blainville to the Chetopoda, the body of which is composed of but a small number of rings: oligomerous.
1875 T. H. Huxley in Amer. Naturalist 9 67 This appears to be the case..in all the polychætous Annelida, of which the Mollusca are little more than an oligomerous modification.
1978 Sci. Amer. Sept. 108/2 The oligomerous body plan has only three (sometimes only two) coelomic compartments separated by transverse septa.
1996 Nature 6 June 516/1 Vestimentiferans are regarded as close relatives of the perviate Pogonophora, which were initially place among the oligomerous deuterostome phyla.
2. Botany. Having fewer divisions or parts than normal.
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [adjective] > having specific arrangement or number of member parts
regular1760
decandrous1808
irregular1826
tetramerous1835
pentamerous1848
symmetrical1849
hexamerous1857
isomerous1857
octamerous1857
anisomerous1861
octomeral1871
hemicyclic1875
zygomorphic1875
zygomorphous1879
tetracyclic1880
heteromerous1882
heterocyclic1895
oligomerous1897
pleiomerous1898
decasepalous-
1897 J. C. Willis Man. Flowering Plants I. 74 The gynoeceum..in most cases has fewer members than the outer whorls or is oligomerous.
1941 New Phytologist 40 69 Flowers with oligomerous or pleiomerous perianth whorls are of common occurrence in Primula.
1996 Feddes Repertorium 107 1 Replacement of single stamens by pairs reflects an increase in the pollination potential and has arisen several times, mainly in relation with oligomerous androecia.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1857