arietiform

English

WOTD – 20 March 2021

Etymology

An artistic representation of a ram and the astrological symbol of Aries on a Russian two-ruble coin.

The Wilson’s bird-of-paradise (Diphyllodes respublica) has distinctive arietiform tail feathers.

An illustration by John Livzey Ridgway of an arietiform colour marking on a bird feather.[n 1]

The Stephens’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys stephensi) has a prominent arietiform marking on its face.

From Latin arietis (the genitive singular of ariēs (“a ram”)) + English -form (suffix meaning ‘having the shape or form of’).[1] Ariēs is derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁r-i-(e)t- (“a certain domestic animal”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɛəɹiˈɛtɪfɔːm/
Audio (RP) (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɛɹiˈɛtɪfɔɹm/
Hyphenation: ari‧e‧ti‧form

Adjective

arietiform

(zoology) Having the shape of a ram's head or of the astrological symbol of Aries (♈︎).
Synonym: ypsiliform
the arietiform marks become broader and more prominent.
- 1878 January 23, John W[esley] Judd, “39. The Secondary Rocks of Scotland. Third Paper. The Strata of the Western Coast and Islands.”, in The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, volume XXXIV, London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer […], ISSN 0016-7649, OCLC 263593044, section V (Description of the Secondary Strata and Associated Formations in the Western Highlands), page 702:
  The great mass of the strata in question clearly belongs to the "Lima-beds or Zone of Ammonites Bucklandi." This is proved by the remarkable abundance of Gryphœa arcuata of the typical form, and by the numerous and fine examples of Lima gigantea which occur—and especially by the presence of such characteristic arietiform Ammonites as A. Bucklandi, Sow., A. Conybeari, Sow., A. Kridion, Hehl, and many others.
- 1890–1891, “Schlegelia”, in William Dwight Whitney, editor, The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., OCLC 977635331, page 5391, column 3:
  The species is S[chlegelia] wilsoni, better known as Paradisea or Diphyllodes wilsoni, of Waigiou and Batanta. The male is 7¼ inches long, the tail 2, with its middle pair of feathers as long again, twice crossed and then curled in arietiform figure.
- 1914, James Perrin Smith, “Systematic Descriptions”, in The Middle Triassic Marine Invertebrate Faunas of North America (United States Geological Survey Professional Paper; 83), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, OCLC 903236313, page 75:
  The writer is of the opinion that this grouping is in great need of revision, in the following respects: Halilucites comprises the arietiform Hungarites of the Bosnian Muschelkalk and is either a synonym or subgenus of Eutomoceras Hyatt, for the type species of Hungarites Mojsisovies is one of the arietiform group and closely allied with Eutomoceras laubei Meek, the type of Eutomoceras.
- 1927, James Perrin Smith, “Systematic Descriptions”, in Upper Triassic Marine Invertebrate Faunas of North America (U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper; 141), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, OCLC 1001873091, page 42, column 2:
  Discotropites mojsvarensis Smith, […] The form and ornamentation are decidedly arietiform and bear some resemblance to the arietiform Eutomoceras (Halilucites) of the Middle Triassic but differ in the spiral lines, long body chamber, and digitate septa.
- 1943 September 16, Jean T[hresher] Boulware, “Dipodomys agilis fuscus, New Subspecies”, in J. F. Daniel, E. R. Hall, Harold Kirby, and S. F. Light, editors, Two New Subspecies of Kangaroo Rats (Genus Dipodomys) From Southern California (University of California Publications in Zoölogy; volume 46, number 7), Berkeley; Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press; London: Cambridge University Press, OCLC 878463686, page 394:
  As compared with D[ipodomys] a[gilis] agilis, D. a. fuscus [a subspecies of kangaroo rat] differs as follows: Dorsal color darker; yellow-orange of sides paler, arietiform facial markings heavier, and black rather than brownish; […]

Coordinate terms

pisciform
tauriform

Related terms

Aries
arietate (rare)
arietation
arietine

Translations

having the shape of a ram's head or of the astrological sign of Aries

Notes

From Robert Ridgway (1886) A Nomenclature of Colors for Naturalists, and Compendium of Useful Knowledge for Ornithologists, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, figure XV.

References

Compare William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “arietiform”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, volume I (A–C), revised edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., OCLC 1078064371, page 302, column 2.