Monday-ish words: seiche and viviparous
Feb. 20th, 2018 10:37 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
seiche (sāsh, sēch), noun
An oscillation of water in a lake, bay, or gulf, caused by wind or earthquakes.
I ran across that word in this story about an Alaskan earthquake causing fish to spawn in Death Valley.
Etymology: origin seems obscure, but possibly from German Seiche, sinking (of water).
viviparous (vī-vĭp′ər-ē), adj,
1. (zoology) Giving birth to living offspring that are produced within the mother's body.
2. (botany) a. Germinating before separating from the parent plant.
b. Producing bulbils or young plants instead of flowers.
Most mammals are viviparous.
Vivipary (or viviparity) is not uncommon in plants. If you search on 'vivipary tomatoes', you can see multiple examples of tomato seeds sprouting while still inside the tomato.
Etymology: Latin, vivus, living + parere, to beget
The picture below is from here.
