Library / English Dictionary

LICHEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any thallophytic plant of the division Lichenes; occur as crusty patches or bushy growths on tree trunks or rocks or bare ground etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("lichen" is a kind of...):

fungus (an organism of the kingdom Fungi lacking chlorophyll and feeding on organic matter; ranging from unicellular or multicellular organisms to spore-bearing syncytia)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lichen"):

ascolichen (a lichen in which the fungus component is an ascomycete)

basidiolichen (a lichen in which the fungus component is a basidiomycete)

lecanora (any lichen of the genus Lecanora; some used in dyeing; some used for food)

roccella; Roccella tinctoria (a source of the dye archil and of litmus)

beard lichen; beard moss; Usnea barbata (greenish grey pendulous lichen growing on trees)

horsehair lichen; horsetail lichen (any of several lichens of the genus Alectoria having a thallus consisting of filaments resembling hair)

arctic moss; Cladonia rangiferina; reindeer lichen; reindeer moss (an erect greyish branching lichen of Arctic and even some north temperate regions constituting the chief food for reindeer and caribou and sometimes being eaten by humans)

crotal; crottal; crottle (any of several lichens of the genus Parmelia from which reddish brown or purple dyes are made)

Cetraria islandica; Iceland lichen; Iceland moss (lichen with branched flattened partly erect thallus that grows in mountainous and Arctic regions; used as a medicine or food for humans and livestock; a source of glycerol)

Holonyms ("lichen" is a member of...):

division Lichenes; Lichenes (comprising the lichens which grow symbiotically with algae; sometimes treated as an independent group more or less coordinate with algae and fungi)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of several eruptive skin diseases characterized by hard thick lesions grouped together and resembling lichens growing on rocks

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("lichen" is a kind of...):

disease of the skin; skin disease; skin disorder (a disease affecting the skin)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lichen"):

lichen planus; lichen ruber planus (an eruption of shiny flat-topped purplish (usually itchy) papules on the wrist and forearms and thighs)

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