‖ lusus naturæ
(ˈl(j)uːsəs nəˈtjʊəriː)
Also 9 simply lusus.
[L. lūsus nātūræ a playing or sport of Nature.]
A supposed sportive action of Nature to which the origin of marked variations from the normal type (of an animal, plant, etc.) was formerly ascribed. Chiefly concr., a natural production deviating markedly from the normal type, or having the appearance of being a result of sportive design; a ‘freak of nature’.
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Glouc. (1662) I. 351 Others more probably account them [fossils] to be Lusus Naturæ. 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. iii, They..concluded unanimously, that I was only relplum scalcath, which is interpreted literally lusus naturæ. 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 180 Doctor Hunter..exhibits many arms..shewing this Lusus Naturæ. 1816 Brackenridge Jrnl. Voy. Missouri 46 The wild turkey is invariably black: although, it is possible, that by some lusus naturæ, there may be white. 1833 Sir C. Bell Hand (1834) 35 The animals of the Antediluvian world were not monsters; there was no lusus or extravagance. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 334 A lusus naturæ called el Torcal, an assemblage of stones which look like a deserted town. 1850 Mrs. Browning Lost Bower xlviii, I have found a bower today A green lusus—fashioned half in Chance, and half in Nature's play. 1880 Gray Struct. Bot. 419/1 Lusus, a ‘sport’ or variation from a seed or bud. 1885 Manch. Exam. 18 Feb. 3/2 It is a veritable curiosity—a sort of fossilised lusus naturæ. |