Gracility is slenderness, the condition of being gracile, which means slender. It derives from the Latin adjective gracilis ( masculine or feminine), or gracile ( neuter), [1] which in either form means slender, and when transferred for example to discourse takes the sense of "without ornament", "simple" or various similar connotations. [2]
In Glossary of Botanic Terms, B. D. Jackson speaks dismissively [3] of an entry in earlier dictionary of A. A. Crozier [4] as follows: "Gracilis (Lat.), slender. Crozier has the needless word 'gracile'". However, his objection would be hard to sustain in current usage; apart from the fact that gracile is a natural and convenient term, it is hardly a neologism. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary [5] gives the source date for that usage as 1623 and indicates the word is misused (through association with grace) for "gracefully slender". [5] This misuse is unfortunate at least, because the terms gracile and grace are unrelated: the etymological root of grace is the Latin word gratia from gratus, meaning 'pleasing', [5] and has nothing to do with slenderness or thinness.[ citation needed]
In biology, the term is in common use, whether as English or Latin:
In biological taxonomy, gracile is the specific name or specific epithet for various species. Where the gender is appropriate, the form is gracilis. Examples include:
The same root appears in the names of some genera and higher taxa:
Gracility is slenderness, the condition of being gracile, which means slender. It derives from the Latin adjective gracilis ( masculine or feminine), or gracile ( neuter), [1] which in either form means slender, and when transferred for example to discourse takes the sense of "without ornament", "simple" or various similar connotations. [2]
In Glossary of Botanic Terms, B. D. Jackson speaks dismissively [3] of an entry in earlier dictionary of A. A. Crozier [4] as follows: "Gracilis (Lat.), slender. Crozier has the needless word 'gracile'". However, his objection would be hard to sustain in current usage; apart from the fact that gracile is a natural and convenient term, it is hardly a neologism. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary [5] gives the source date for that usage as 1623 and indicates the word is misused (through association with grace) for "gracefully slender". [5] This misuse is unfortunate at least, because the terms gracile and grace are unrelated: the etymological root of grace is the Latin word gratia from gratus, meaning 'pleasing', [5] and has nothing to do with slenderness or thinness.[ citation needed]
In biology, the term is in common use, whether as English or Latin:
In biological taxonomy, gracile is the specific name or specific epithet for various species. Where the gender is appropriate, the form is gracilis. Examples include:
The same root appears in the names of some genera and higher taxa: