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Webster 1913 Edition


Viviparous

Vi-vip′a-rous

,
Adj.
[L.
viviparus
;
vivus
alive +
parere
to bear, bring forth. Cf.
Viper
.]
(Biol.)
Producing young in a living state, as most mammals, or as those plants the offspring of which are produced alive, either by bulbs instead of seeds, or by the seeds themselves germinating on the plant, instead of falling, as they usually do; – opposed to
oviparous
.
Viviparous fish
.
(Zool.)
Viviparous shell
(Zool.)
,
any one of numerous species of operculated fresh-water gastropods belonging to
Viviparus
,
Melantho
, and allied genera. Their young, when born, have a well-developed spiral shell.

Webster 1828 Edition


Viviparous

VIVIP'AROUS

,
Adj.
[L. vivus, alive, and pario, to bear.]
1.
Producing young in a living state, as all mammifers; as distinguished from oviparous, producing eggs, as fowls. If fowls were viviparous, it is difficult to how the female would fly during preganancy.
2.
In botany, producing its offspring alive, either by bulbs instead of seeds, or by the seeds themselves germinating on the plant, instread of falling, as they usually do; as a viviparous plant.

Definition 2024


viviparous

viviparous

English

Alternative forms

  • vivipartous (rare)

Adjective

viviparous (not comparable)

  1. (of an animal or animal species) Being born alive, as are most mammals, some reptiles, and a few fish (as opposed to being laid as an egg and subsequently hatching, as do most birds and many other species).
  2. (of a plant or plant species) Arising from an embryo that develops from the outset (rather than from a true seed that then germinates).

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