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prettygoodword ([personal profile] prettygoodword) wrote2017-03-10 07:39 am

laterigrade

laterigrade (LAT-er-i-grayd) - adj., moving sideways.


Mostly used only in the context of zoology, used to describe certain crabs and, apparently, spiders. Also sometimes defined as "designed to move sideways." I want to see a laterigrade elevator. Coined in the 1750s from Latin roots lateri-, combining form of Latin latus, side/flank + -grade, from gradus, step, or gradī, to walk.

---L.