Meanings
elater1
elater2
plural elaters
- obsoleteElasticity; especially the expansibility of a gas.
- biologyA long, slender cell produced among spores and having hygroscopic secondary cell wall thickenings.
The closest affinities of the Jubulaceae are with the Lejeuneaceae. The two families share in common: (a) elaters usually 1-spiral, trumpet-shaped and fixed to the capsule valves, distally[…]
1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 4 - biologyAny of the long, slender hygroscopic appendages attached to the spores of horsetails (genus Equisetum).
- biologyAn elaterid, or click beetle.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
elater · noun
- Ancient Greekἐλατήρ“driver, that which drives away”
- New Latinelatēr
- Englishelater
From New Latin elatēr, from Ancient Greek ἐλατήρ (elatḗr, “driver, that which drives away”).
More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with elater
Anagrams
Cite this entry
elater. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elater
“elater.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elater. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “elater,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elater.
Source: elater on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.