Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Elater
E-lat′er
,Noun.
One who, or that which, elates.
‖El′a-ter
,Noun.
[NL., fr. Gr. [GREEK] driver, fr. [GREEK] to drive.]
1.
(Bot.)
An elastic spiral filament for dispersing the spores, as in some liverworts.
2.
(Zoöl.)
Any beetle of the family
Elateridæ
, having the habit, when laid on the back, of giving a sudden upward spring, by a quick movement of the articulation between the abdomen and thorax; – called also click beetle
, spring beetle
, and snapping beetle
. El′a-ter
,Noun.
(Chem.)
The active principle of elaterium, being found in the juice of the wild or squirting cucumber (
Ecballium agreste
, formerly Motordica Elaterium
) and other related species. It is extracted as a bitter, white, crystalline substance, which is a violent purgative. Definition 2025
elater
elater
English
Noun
elater (plural elaters)
- That which elates.
Etymology 2
From New Latin elater, from Ancient Greek ἐλατήρ (elatḗr, “driver, that which drives away”)
Noun
elater (plural elaters)
- (obsolete) Elasticity; especially the expansibility of a gas.
- (botany) A long, slender cell produced among spores and having hygroscopic secondary cell wall thickenings.
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page 4
- The closest affinities of the Jubulaceae are with the Lejeuneaceae. The two families share in common: (a) elaters usually 1-spiral, trumpet-shaped and fixed to the capsule valves, distally […]
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page 4
- (botany) Any of the long, slender hygroscopic appendages attached to the spores of horsetails (genus Equisetum).
- (zoology) An elaterid, or click beetle.
Derived terms
- pseudoelater
References
- elater in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911