ptilo-
(pt-, tɪləʊ)
before a vowel ptil-, combining form of Gr. πτίλον a soft feather, a plumelet.
ˈptilocerque (-sɜːk) Zool. [Gr. κέρκος tail], an elephant shrew of the genus Ptilocercus, having a long tail with distichous hairs towards the end; the pen-tailed shrew. ptiloˈgenesis, the genesis or growth of feathers (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1895). ˈptilolite Min. [see -lite], ‘hydrous silicate of aluminum, calcium, and potassium, found in delicate tufts made up of short capillary crystals’ (Chester). ptilopædic (-ˈpiːdɪk) a. Ornith. [Gr. παῖς, παιδ- child + -ic], of birds: hatched with a complete covering of down.
| 1895 Funk's Standard Dict., *Ptilocerque. |
| 1886 Amer. Jrnl. Sc. Ser. iii. XXXII. 118 *Ptilolite, derived from πτίλον, down, in reference to the light, downy nature of its aggregates. 1887 Min. Mag. VII. 115 Ptilolite is gradually decomposed by strong sulphuric acid. |
| 1884 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2) 88 Probably all præcocial birds are also *ptilopædic, and all psilopædic birds altricial, but..many altrices, as hawks and owls, [are] also ptilopædic. 1885 Athenæum 1 Aug. 146/2 The rails and cranes, the typical members of which are præcocial and ptilopædic. |