Meanings
Origin
- Ancient Greekτρόπος“a turn, way, manner, style, a trope or figure of speech, a mode in music, a mode or mood in logic”
- Latintropus
- English-tropism
From Latin tropus (English trope) + -ism, from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “a turn, way, manner, style, a trope or figure of speech, a mode in music, a mode or mood in logic”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “turn; solstice; trope”). Early use in botany as geotropism and heliotropism.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
-tropism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-tropism
MLA
“-tropism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-tropism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-tropism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-tropism.
Source: -tropism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.