A Topical Dictionary: Search for saltation

Dictionary Results For "saltation" [?]/[OPML]

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English

Etymology

From the Latin, saltus, to leap.

Noun

saltation

a leap, jump or dance
a sudden change from one generation to the next; a mutation
any abrupt transition

fr:saltation id:saltation ru:saltation ta:saltation vi:saltation zh:saltation

GNU Project's publication of CIDE, the Collaborative International Dictionary of English Saltation \Sal*ta"tion\, n. [L. saltatio: cf. F. saltation.]
1. A leaping or jumping.
[1913 Webster]

Continued his saltation without pause. --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]

2. Beating or palpitation; as, the saltation of the great
artery.
[1913 Webster]

3. (Biol.) An abrupt and marked variation in the condition or
appearance of a species; a sudden modification which may
give rise to new races.
[1913 Webster]

We greatly suspect that nature does make
considerable jumps in the way of variation now and
then, and that these saltations give rise to some of
the gaps which appear to exist in the series of
known forms. --Huxley.
[1913 Webster]

WordNet saltation
n 1: (geology) the leaping movement of sand or soil particles as
they are transported in a fluid medium over an uneven
surface
2: a mutation that drastically changes the phenotype of an
organism or species
3: an abrupt transition; "a successful leap from college to the
major leagues" [syn: leap, jump]
4: taking a series of rhythmical steps (and movements) in time
to music [syn: dancing, dance, terpsichore]
5: a light springing movement upwards or forwards [syn: leap,
leaping, spring, bound, bounce]