Meaning & use
arborescence
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The quality of resembling a tree, especially by growing or spreading out in many branches.
Grammar: Usually has no plural and no article: the arborescence of the coral.
Patterns
- the arborescence of something
The arborescence of the frost patterns on the window made them look like tiny forests.
Botanists noted the arborescence of the shrub, which sent up a dozen branching stems.
Mineral deposits sometimes show a delicate arborescence in the rock.
nouncountablemathematicstechnical
In graph theory, a directed graph in which one chosen vertex, the root, has exactly one path leading to every other vertex.
Grammar: Counts as a normal noun here: one arborescence, two arborescences.
Patterns
- an arborescence rooted at something
The algorithm finds a minimum-cost arborescence rooted at the main server.
Every arborescence on n vertices has exactly n minus one edges.
She drew an arborescence to show how messages spread from the source.
Word forms
| plural | arborescences |
|---|
Common combinations
- delicate arborescence
- The ice formed a delicate arborescence across the glass.
- fractal arborescence
- Lightning leaves a fractal arborescence in the sky.
- minimum arborescence
- The program computes a minimum arborescence of the network.
- spanning arborescence
- A spanning arborescence reaches every node in the graph.
- arborescence of branches
- The arborescence of branches blocked most of the light.
Synonyms and how they differ
- branching
- Branching is the plain, everyday word for the same pattern, while arborescence sounds scientific or literary.
- ramification
- Ramification stresses the splitting into branches and often applies to consequences, whereas arborescence stresses the tree-like look.
- dendrite
- A dendrite is a single branching structure such as a nerve ending or crystal, while arborescence names the overall quality or form.
Word family
Commonly confused: arborescence or arboriculture?
arborescence vs arboriculture
Arboriculture is the cultivation and care of trees, not the tree-like shape of something.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'arborescence' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Arborescence describes a tree-like branching form, so frost patterns fit. The other options use it as a tool, a taste or a verb, which it cannot be.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “arborescence”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.