Gracility

Gracility is slenderness, the condition of being gracile, which means slender. It derives from the Latin adjective gracilis (masculine or feminine), or gracile (neuter),^[1] which in either form means slender, and when transferred for example to discourse takes the sense of "without ornament", "simple" or various similar connotations.^[2]

In Glossary of Botanic Terms, B. D. Jackson speaks dismissively^[3] of an entry in earlier dictionary of A. A. Crozier^[4] as follows: "Gracilis (Lat.), slender. Crozier has the needless word 'gracile'". However, his objection would be hard to sustain in current usage; apart from the fact that gracile is a natural and convenient term, it is hardly a neologism. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary^[5] gives the source date for that usage as 1623 and indicates the word is misused (through association with grace) for "gracefully slender".^[5] This misuse is unfortunate at least, because the terms gracile and grace are unrelated: the etymological root of grace is the Latin word gratia from gratus, meaning 'pleasing',^[5] and has nothing to do with slenderness or thinness.^{[citation needed]}

In biology

In biology, the term is in common use, whether as English or Latin:

The term gracile^[6]—and its opposite, robust^[7]—occur in discussion of the morphology of various hominids for example.
The gracile fasciculus is a particular bundle of axon fibres in the spinal cord
The gracile nucleus is a particular structure of neurons in the medulla oblongata
"GRACILE syndrome", is associated with a BCS1L mutation

In biological taxonomy, gracile is the specific name or specific epithet for various species. Where the gender is appropriate, the form is gracilis. Examples include:

Campylobacter gracilis, a species of bacterium implicated in foodborne disease
Ctenochasma gracile, a late Jurassic pterosaur
Eriophorum gracile, a species of sedge, Cyperaceae
Euglena gracilis, a unicellular flagellate protist
Hydrophis gracilis, a species of sea snakes
Melampodium gracile, a flowering plant species
Moeritherium gracile, an Eocene mammal species

The same root appears in the names of some genera and higher taxa:

Gracilaria is a genus of red algae in the order Gracilariales
Gracillaria is a genus of leaf miner moths in the superfamily Gracillarioidea

References

^ Gray, Mason D.; Jenkins, Thornton, eds. (1934). "gracile". Latin for Today, Book 2. Ginn and Co., Ltd.
^ Simpson, D. P., ed. (1977). "gracile". Cassell's Latin Dictionary: Latin-English, English-Latin. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-02-522580-4.
^ Jackson, Benjamin Daydon (1928). "gracile". A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent (4th ed.). London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. W.C.2
^ Crozier, Arthur Alger (1893). "gracile". A Dictionary of Botanical Terms. Henry Holt & Co.
^ ^a ^b ^c Little, William; Fowler, H.W.; Coulson, J.; Onions, C.T., eds. (1968). "gracile". Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principals. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.
^ "Gracile".
^ "Robust".

[1] Gray, Mason D.; Jenkins, Thornton, eds. (1934). "gracile". Latin for Today, Book 2. Ginn and Co., Ltd.

[isbn0-02-522580-4-2] Simpson, D. P., ed. (1977). "gracile". Cassell's Latin Dictionary: Latin-English, English-Latin. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-02-522580-4.

[3] Jackson, Benjamin Daydon (1928). "gracile". A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent (4th ed.). London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. W.C.2

[4] Crozier, Arthur Alger (1893). "gracile". A Dictionary of Botanical Terms. Henry Holt & Co.

[OED-5] Little, William; Fowler, H.W.; Coulson, J.; Onions, C.T., eds. (1968). "gracile". Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principals. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.

[6] "Gracile".

[7] "Robust".

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Gracility

In biology

See also

References