lichen
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: lī'kən
ipa: /ˈlaɪ.kən/
enpr: lĭ'chən
ipa: /ˈlɪtʃ.ən/
rhymes: -aɪkən
rhymes: -ɪtʃən
homophone: liken
homophone: lycan
Forms: form: lichens
form: lichen
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin līchēn, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn), from λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick”). Originally used of liverwort; the modern sense first recorded 1715.
Senses: examples: text: The Beaches of Lukannon–the winter wheat so tall, / The dripping, crinkled lichens, and the sea-fog drenching all!
ref: 1894 May, Rudyard Kipling, “Lukannon”, in The Jungle Book, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published June 1894, →OCLC, page 122:
text: It was the same rich green that one sees on forest moss or on the lichen in caves: plants which like these grow in a perpetual twilight.
ref: 1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter XI, in The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC:
text: The nibble marks of the stone adze were still visible, though crusted over with scale lichens in most places.
ref: 1915, John Muir, chapter V, in Travels in Alaska:
glosses: Any of many symbiotic organisms, being associations of algae and fungi, often found as white or yellow-to-blue–green patches on rocks, old walls, etc.
examples: text: Meanwhile, abiding a day of judgment, she fought ceaselessly to deny the bitter drops in her cup, to tear back the slow, the intangibly slow growth of a hot, corrosive lichen eating into her heart.
ref: 1912 January, Zane Grey, “Shadows on the Sage-slope”, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 202:
synonyms: cancer
glosses: Something which gradually spreads across something else, causing damage.
Hyponyms: sense: symbiotic organism
word: macrolichen
sense: symbiotic organism
word: microlichen
Derived terms: word: antilichen
taxonomic: Evernia cladonia
word: antler lichen
alt: Ascholichenes spp.
word: ascolichen
taxonomic: Sphaerophorus spp.
word: ball lichen
alt: Basidolichenes spp.
word: basidolichen
taxonomic: Usnea barbata
word: beard lichen
word: blister lichen
taxonomic: Cladonia cristella
word: British soldiers lichen
word: byssoid lichen
word: cephalolichen
word: chlorolichen
taxonomic: Acarospora spp.
word: cobblestone lichen
word: comma lichen
taxonomic: Sphaerophorus spp.
word: coral lichen
word: corticolous lichen
taxonomic: Acarospora spp.
word: cracked lichen
word: crustose lichen
word: crustose placodioid lichen
taxonomic: Cladonia spp.
word: cup lichen
word: cyanolichen
alt: Discolichenes spp.
word: discolichen
taxonomic: Peltigera canina
word: dog lichen
english: Chrysothrix spp. or Lepraria spp.
translation: Chrysothrix spp. or Lepraria spp.
word: dust lichen
taxonomic: Baeomyces spp.
word: earth lichen
word: edible lichen
word: endolithic lichen
word: epiphyllous lichen
word: equine tropical lichen
word: filamentous lichen
taxonomic: Caloplaca spp.
word: firedot lichen
word: foliose lichen
word: fruticose lichen
taxonomic: Collemataceae spp.
word: gelatinous lichen
word: globe lichen
taxonomic: Glyphis spp.
word: glyphis lichen
taxonomic: Caloplaca spp.
word: gold lichen
taxonomic: Candelariella spp.
word: goldspeck lichen
word: horsehair lichen
taxonomic: Alectoria spp.
word: horsetail lichen
taxonomic: Cetraria islandica
word: Iceland lichen
taxonomic: Collemataceae spp.
word: jelly lichen
taxonomic: Caloplaca spp.
word: jewel lichen
word: leaf lichen
word: lecanorine lichen
word: leprose lichen
taxonomic: Graphis spp.
word: letter lichen
word: lichenaceous
word: lichenal
word: lichenase
word: lichened
word: lichenic
word: lichenicolous
word: lichenification
word: licheniform
word: lichenify
word: lichenin
word: lichenisation
word: lichenism
word: lichenist
word: lichenivorous
word: lichenization
word: lichenize
word: lichenized
word: lichenless
word: lichenlike
alt: Licosiini spp.
word: lichen moth
word: lichenographer
word: lichenographic
word: lichenographical
word: lichenographist
word: lichenography
word: lichenoid
word: lichenologist
word: lichenology
word: lichenometry
word: lichenose
word: lichenous
word: lichen planus
word: lichen sclerosus
word: licheny
taxonomic: Sticta pulmonacea
word: lung lichen
word: macrolichen
taxonomic: Lecanora spp.
alt: Gyrophora esculenta
word: manna lichen
taxonomic: Rhizocarpon geographicum
word: map lichen
taxonomic: Chaenotheca spp.
word: needle lichen
taxonomic: Caloplaca spp.
word: orange lichen
word: pin lichen
word: placodioid lichen
taxonomic: Cladonia rangiferina
word: reindeer lichen
english: Lecanora, Squamarina spp.
translation: Lecanora, Squamarina spp.
word: rim lichen
word: saxicolous lichen
taxonomic: Graphis scripta
word: script lichen
taxonomic: Parmotrema perlatum
word: sea lichen
taxonomic: Cetraria nivalis
word: snow lichen
word: squamulose lichen
taxonomic: Parmotrema perlatum
word: stone lichen
taxonomic: Usnea articulata
word: string-of-sausage lichen
taxonomic: Calicium spp.
word: stubble lichen
english: Xanthoria, Xanthoparmelia spp.
translation: Xanthoria, Xanthoparmelia spp.
word: sunburst lichen
word: terricolous lichen
taxonomic: Peltigera apthosa
word: thrush lichen
word: tropical lichen
taxonomic: Hypogymnia spp.
word: tube lichen
word: vagrant lichen
word: Wilson's lichen
taxonomic: Letharia vulpina
word: wolf lichen