Meanings
- not comparablecartographyOf a map projection: Neither conformal or equal-area.
Origin
- Ancient Greekφυλακτικός“serving to preserve”
- Frenchaphylactique
- Englishaphylactic
From French aphylactique, probably coined by Nicolas Auguste Tissot in his 1881 book Mémoire sur la réprésentation des surfaces et les projections des cartes géographiques (Treatise on surface representations and map projections). Ultimately from a- + Ancient Greek φυλακτικός (phulaktikós, “serving to preserve”) (see φύλαξις (phúlaxis)), since an aphylactic projection preserves neither angle nor area.
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French aphylactique
- aphylactiqueneither conformal or equal-area
Portuguese afilático
- afiláticoneither conformal or equal-area
Cite this entry
aphylactic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aphylactic
“aphylactic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aphylactic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aphylactic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aphylactic.
Source: aphylactic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.