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Glite Dictionary
lichenous

lichenous

9.9
Having a rough, flat, greenish growth on rocks
  • adjective
  • /ˈlaɪkənəs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : lichenoso
  • The old tree had a lichenous surface that gave it an ancient, weathered appearance.

Examples

  • The lichenous texture on the stone wall made it look like an ancient artifact.

  • Although this lichenous alga proliferates in wet conditions, becoming airborne, no one has worked out the mechanism by which such a large number of these spores drop from rainclouds.

    Blog text (23)

  • In the damp forest, we found lichenous patches growing on the rocks and fallen logs.

Synonyms

lichened
vslichenous
7.9

Covered with pale green or grey patches of growth on rocks and wood

describes having similar appearance or texture without implying actual coverage

Antonyms

smooth
256 1.0

A surface that is even and not rough

How Lichenous

lichenized
  • Specialized
9.1
lichenous
  • Specialized
9.9
mottled
7 6.3
speckled
1 2.8
clean
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

lichenous positive

Morphology

lichenous = lichen (transparent) = lichen + ous

Formed by the productive adjectival suffix '-ous' added to the noun 'lichen', so the meaning 'having the qualities of lichen' is directly derived.

Etymology

The word lichenous comes from lichen, the green, scaly growth you see on rocks and old trees, and the ending -ous, which means 'full of' or 'having'. So lichenous describes something that has the look or feel of lichen.