Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of, relating to, or located on the part of a radially symmetric animal from which the tentacles radiate or the side where the oral area is found.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In zoology: Pertaining to the side of a radiate animal which contains the mouth: equivalent to oral, since the pole, surface, or aspect of the body whence parts radiate is also that in which the mouth is situated: the opposite of abactinal or aboral. The actinal side or surface may be the upper one, in the usual attitude of the animal, as in the case of a sea-anemone, which is fixed by its abactinal or aboral pole, and grows upward; or it may be the lower one, as in the case of a starfish, which creeps upon its actinal or oral surface. In a sea-urchin of more or less globular shape nearly the whole superficies is actinal.
- In general, having tentacles or rays.
Wiktionary
- adj. zoology Pertaining to the side or surface around the mouth in an animal that has radial symmetry such as a starfish.
- adj. zoology Pertaining to the axis of rotational symmetry in radiate animals.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. (Zoöl.) Pertaining to the part of a radiate animal which contains the mouth.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. (of radiate organisms) located on the surface or end on which the mouth is situated
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek ἀκτίς, ἀκτῖν- (actis, actin-, "ray") + -al. The usage was coined by Louis Agassiz (See quotations below.). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“[Footnote: When reference is made to the whole structure, including the internal organs as well as the solid parts of the surface, the terms _actinal_ and _ab-actinal_ are preferable to oral and ab-oral.] [Illustration: Sea-Urchin seen from the oral side, showing the zones with the spines and suckers; for the ab-oral side, on the summit of which the zones unite, see February Number, p. 216.]”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘actinal’.
-
Zoological Terms
Terms used in Zoology
papilionaceous, actinost, gressorial, exuviate, nitid, trochal, demiss, loculus, crebrity, limes, pachytrichous, pachydactyl and 319 more...
-
Fishful thinking
"It was then that Delirium noticed that she had absent-mindedly transformed into a hundred and eleven perfect, tiny multicolored fish."
Assortment of fishy or somehow entertaining fish...piscary, fishery, hatchery, pisces, piscine, piscation, piscatorial, pescetarian, piscivorous, expiscate, expiscatory, fishmonger and 81 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for actinal.

Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.