Wiktionary

lichen

English

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Lichen growing on a rock.

Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin līchēn, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn), from λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick”). Originally used of liverwort; the modern sense first recorded 1715.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lichen (countable and uncountable, plural lichens or lichen)

  1. Any of many symbiotic organisms, being associations of algae and fungi, often found as white or yellow-to-blue–green patches on rocks, old walls, etc.
  2. (figurative) Something which gradually spreads across something else, causing damage.
    Synonym: cancer

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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something which spreads across something else, causing damage — see cancer

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “lichen”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “lichen”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 “lichen”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin lichen, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lichen m (plural lichens)

  1. lichen

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Latin

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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līchēn m (genitive līchēnos or līchēnis); third declension

  1. (literally) a cryptogamic species of vegetation growing on trees, lichen
  2. (transferred sense, medicine) an eruption on the skin of men and beasts, a tetter, ringworm
    1. (and especially) a callous excrescence upon the leg of a horse, used as a medicine

Declension

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Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant or non-Greek-type).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative līchēn līchēnes
līchēnēs
Genitive līchēnos
līchēnis 		līchēnum
Dative līchēnī līchēnibus
Accusative līchēna
līchēnem 		līchēnas
līchēnēs
Ablative līchēne līchēnibus
Vocative līchēn līchēnes
līchēnēs

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • English: lichen
  • French: lichen
  • Portuguese: líquen
  • Spanish: liquen

References

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  • “līchēn”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • līchēn in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 909/3.
  • “līchēn” on page 1,029/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Luxembourgish

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Verb

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lichen (third-person singular present licht, past participle gelicht, auxiliary verb hunn)

  1. (transitive, slang) to kick out, to throw out, to sack

Synonyms

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  1. (transitive) to lift (a little)
  2. (reflexive, slang) to get up, to leave (as a guest), to get to one's feet
  3. (reflexive) to lift (fog, mist)

Synonyms

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French lichen.

Noun

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lichen m (plural licheni)

  1. lichen

Declension

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Declension of lichen
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) lichen lichenul (niște) licheni lichenii
genitive/dative (unui) lichen lichenului (unor) licheni lichenilor
vocative lichenule lichenilor
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