▪ I. irrorate, a. Zool., esp. Entom.
(ˈɪrərət)
[ad. L. irrōrāt-us bedewed, pa. pple. of irrōrāre: see next.]
= Irrorated: see next 2.
| 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. 285 Atom, a very minute dot. Irrorate, sprinkled with atoms, as the earth with dew. |
▪ II. irrorate, v.
(ˈɪrəreɪt)
[f. ppl. stem of L. irrōrā-re to bedew, f. ir- (ir-1) + rōrāre to drop dew, from rōs, rōrem dew.]
† 1. trans. To wet or sprinkle as with dew; to bedew, besprinkle; to moisten. Obs.
| 1623 Cockeram, Irrorate, to sprinckle, to moysten. 1629 Parkinson Gard. Pleas. viii. 20 Doe not give them too much water to over-glut them, but temperately to ir[r]orate, bedew or sprinkle them. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 237 They are to be fryed and irrorated with the juyce of Oranges. 1676 tr. Garencieres' Coral 44 A plant..irrorated or steeped in common water. |
2. Zool., esp. Entom. In pa. pple. ˈirrorated: sprinkled minutely (with dots).
| 1843 Humphreys Brit. Moths I. 85 The caterpillar is dusky, irrorated with black spots. 1882 Entomol. Mag. Mar. 220 The mature larva is of a dark pea-green colour, thickly irrorated with slightly raised black dots. |