Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tropism

/ˈtɹoʊˌpɪzəm/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.63 in modern English

Syllables
trop-i-sm
IPA
/ˈtɹoʊˌpɪzəm/
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The turning of an organism (chiefly a plant) or part of an organism either towards or away from a stimulus; (countable) an instance of this.

Uncountable

noun

A capability or tendency for a pathogen (chiefly a virus) to infect a type of cell, tissue, organ, or host organism.

Countable

noun

Of a person: an instinctive predilection or tendency; also (generally), a liking, a preference.

Countable

Example Sentences

Etymology

From -tropism (suffix meaning ‘growth towards; movement, turning’) (possibly based on geotropism and heliotropism), from Latin tropus + English -ism (suffix forming nouns of action, process, or result). Tropus is derived from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “a turn; a manner, style, way; figure of speech, trope; etc.”), from τρέπω (trépō, “to turn; to divert; to rotate or change orientation”) (from Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns of result or abstract nouns of action). Sense 1 (“turning of an organism or part of an organism towards or away from a stimulus”) is modelled after German Tropismus.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *trep-, tropus, τρόπος

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈtɹoʊˌpɪzəm/
  • British English: /ˈtɹəʊpɪz(ə)m/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Questions

How do you pronounce tropism?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtɹoʊˌpɪzəm/.
What does tropism mean?
The turning of an organism (chiefly a plant) or part of an organism either towards or away from a stimulus; (countable) an instance of this.
Where does tropism come from?
It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce tropism

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tropism”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈtɹoʊˌpɪzəm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tropism”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “tropism” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.