Meanings
nountectotype (plural tectotypes)
plural tectotypes
- rarebiologyA type specimen explicitly designated to show microscopic structure.
Origin
From tecto- + type, coined independently in different fields. The earliest attested sense is the taxonomic one, coined by Frederick Chapman in 1912.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
tectotype. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tectotype
MLA
“tectotype.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tectotype. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tectotype,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tectotype.
Source: tectotype on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.