diatropism

English

Etymology

From dia- +‎ -tropism.

Noun

diatropism (countable and uncountable, plural diatropisms)

1. (biology) The growth or movement of a plant or animal in a direction perpendicular to a stimulus.
   • 1903, Eduard Strasburger, Fritz Noll, Heinrich Schenck, A Text-book of Botany, page 250:

     As a special result of diatropism, a transverse position is assumed which is exactly at right angles to the direction in which the iinfluence which acts as a stimulus is exerted.

   • 1916, Robert Mearns Yerkes, The Journal of Animal Behavior - Volume 6, page 345:

     It is either positive, making the animal creep perpendicularly downward, or it causes a horizontal movement, (diatropism) at right angles to the axis of gravity, the result of which for the organism is the so-called maintenance of equilibrium.

   • 1956 -, Revista municipal interamericana: Inter-American municipal review, page 37:

     It is possible that in no other part of the world is the existence of a diatropism more beautifully exposed, that force that is manifested in various forms of the most visible consequence of which is to prevent the sea with coverag all the emergent lands. This diatropism has gradually caused the region of Baracoa to rise throughout very long periods of time and each new elevation has brought forth a new coastan fringe in the form of an extraordinary grade to the extent that it has become a stairway for giants that rises from the sea to nearly five hudred meters.

   • 2014, Mohammad Pessarakli, Handbook of Plant and Crop Physiology, →ISBN, page 158:

     Comparing representatives of different phylogenetic lines and taxa by morphostructure shows that diatropism effect as a cell, organ, or organism property appeared in the ancient times and still exists.

2. (organic chemistry) An orthogonal arrangement of groups of atoms within a molecule, often associated with aromaticity.
   • 1984, Erik Neil Farley, Dicyclooctabiphenylenes, page 7:

     The phenomena of antiaromaticity and paratropism are less well known than those of aromaticity and diatropism.

   • 1994, Russian Journal of General Chemistry:

     There can be two limiting variants of the structure of the nearest surroundings of a molecule: parallel pairs and a mutually orthogonal arrangement (paratropism and diatropism [22] respectively).

   • 1999, Daniel Holmes, Synthetic, Structural, and Reactivity Studies on the [N]Phenylenes, page 57:

     Conversely, the linearly fused ring has increased diatropism relative to 3 dues to the bond localization in the C ring.

   • 2005, Ognjen Scepan Miljanic, Synthetic and Structural Studies of Phenylenes and Dehydrobenzannulenes, page 65:

     In the branched 21b, the central six-membered ring becomes essentially atropic (NICS=-1.1), as do the adjacent cyclobutadienes (NICS=-0.4), allowing for maximum diatropicsm of the three terminal cycles (CICS=-10.7; δ=7.24, 7.31ppm).

3. The choice of an object of libidinal attachment on the basis of dissimilarity from early childhood protective and parental figures.
   • 1976, October, page 103:

     This is the precise point of either the "optimal frustration" that Spitz requires of the mother towards the child, or of Winnicott's mysterious "good enough mother": they are called upon to break the primary narcissism in which the mother and child are bound, from anaclisis to diatropism, so that, with the advent of autoeroticism, and at the same time as representation and language, a relationship of the object is finally begun.

Anagrams

• prismatoid