melanization
- noun
- /ˌmɛlənaɪˈzeɪʃən/
- Specialized
:
melanización
- The melanization of the skin can occur due to increased sun exposure.
Examples
-
Certain fish exhibit melanization to adapt to their dark ocean environments.
-
The study focused on the melanization process in frogs living in polluted habitats.
-
F. perrara is specific to the worker pylorus and results in a host melanization response, while B. apis appears in the hindguts of older foragers 28, 54-56.
Academic text (2018)
Synonyms
8
5.2
Natural color of skin, hair, or leaves caused by pigments
1
7.7
Skin that becomes darker in some areas because it has more colour, often after sun, injury, or illness
The process that makes melanin pigment in the skin and hair
A condition in which animals and people have extra dark pigment and very dark skin, fur or feathers
Dark patches that form when the body stores extra pigment, often on the skin
Dark skin in an area caused by extra melanin
Antonyms
How Pigmented
- Specialized
1
7.7
- Specialized
- Specialized
8
5.2
- Specialized
1
8.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
melanization = melanize (semi-transparent) = melan + ization
This is a regular scientific noun in -ization built on the verb 'melanize', but the stem is a specialized combining form rather than an everyday word.
Etymology
Melanization comes from the Greek root melan- meaning 'black' or 'dark' and the ending -ization meaning 'the process of'. The same root is in melanin, the dark pigment in skin and hair, so melanization is the process of becoming darker as melanin builds up.