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Glite Dictionary
🗣️ To explain in words 🔬 To name officially 🟠 To draw a shape
to describe

to describe

136 4.9
To give a new animal or plant a scientific name and write it down
  • verb
  • /dɪˈskraɪb/
  • Specialized
translation icon : describir
  • Methods of estimating the frequency of homelessness are described, along with recent point-in-time and period-of-time estimates.
  • previously described
  • first described
  • newly described species

Examples

  • Researchers aim to describe the behavioral patterns of this rare animal in its natural habitat.

  • The methodology and approach of this process are fully described in the accompanying article.

    Academic text (2013)

  • And it was first described by Francis Galton.

  • We're a long way from having completed Linnaeus's work of describing all the species on the planet.

    Academic text (2011)

  • In the United States, this concept was first described around 1900 in the context of constructivism.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The census has discovered close to 6,000 new species and described 1,200 of them.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Like the other insects I just described, male flour beetles will mate with other males.

    Academic text (2011)

  • He was the first scientist to describe the unique characteristics of the newly discovered plant species.

  • The study will describe how the new species differs from its closest relatives.

Synonyms

to name
vsto describe
∞ 1.0

To give a word people use to identify someone or something

requires assigning an official label and formally recording new species
to identify
vsto describe
∞ 1.8

Say who someone is or what something is

involves giving an official name and formally recording new species

Surface Forms

describe infinitive
described past
described past participle
describing present participle
describes third person singular

Morphology

describe = scribe (semi-transparent) = de + scribe

The scientific meaning ('identify and record') extends the general sense of 'write/record' tied to 'scribe', but the specialized usage is domain-specific and may not be derivable by learners from the parts alone.

Etymology

Describe in science keeps the original idea of 'writing down' because it comes from Latin scribere 'to write'. That's why scientists 'describe' a new species by giving it a name and a formal, written record.