monotocous, a.
(məˈnɒtəkəs)
[f. Gr. µονοτόκ-ος bearing but one at a time (f. µόνο-ς mono- + τοκ-, τίκτειν to bring forth) + -ous.]
a. Zool. Bearing only one or normally only one at a birth; uniparous. b. Ornith. Laying only one egg before incubating. c. Bot. Bearing fruit only once: a term proposed instead of monocarpic.
| 1880 Gray Struct. Bot. 33 note, Monotocous (bearing progeny once)..would be more appropriate [than monocarpic]. 1890 in Century Dict. [all three uses] 1936 Nature 12 Sept. (Suppl.) 451/2 Conceptual thought could only have arisen in a monotocous mammalian type with an arboreal ancestry. 1937 A. Huxley Ends & Means xiv. 264 After achieving a stable inner environment, placental and, in some cases, monotocous birth, highly developed sense organs, and a well co-ordinated nervous system, all but one [sc. mammal] proceeded to specialize. 1968 Economist 15 June 49/2 The rest of us, monotocous individuals that we are, certainly ought to be fascinated by all the bizarre phenomena involved in multiple births. |