Meanings
plural trogloxenes
- Any organism which sporadically lives in underground habitats such as caves, and cannot live there exclusively.
1 more example
A basic difference between these two categories is that individual trogloxenes must leave caves periodically in order to complete their life cycles, whereas troglophiles may, if the opportunity presents itself (for instance, as a consequence of dispersion movements, bringing the individual near to contacts with the surface), leave the cave habitat.
2014, Raúl Aguilar-Roblero, Mechanisms of Circadian Systems in Animals and Their Clinical Relevance, page 65
Origin
- Ancient Greekξένος“foreign, of a stranger”
- Ancient Greekτρώγλη“hole”
- Englishtrogloxene
From Ancient Greek τρώγλη (trṓglē, “hole”) + Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos, “foreign, of a stranger”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
trogloxene. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trogloxene
“trogloxene.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trogloxene. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trogloxene,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trogloxene.
Source: trogloxene on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.