Meaning & use
homoiothermic
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparabletechnicalbiology
Keeping a body temperature that stays fairly steady no matter how warm or cold the surroundings are.
Grammar: Describes a type of animal or its body system; it is not used with more or most.
Patterns
- homoiothermic animals
- homoiothermic species
Birds and mammals are homoiothermic, so they can stay active in cold weather.
The study compared homoiothermic animals with those whose body heat changes with the environment.
adjectivenot comparabletechnicalbiology
Relating to the biological process of keeping body temperature stable.
Grammar: Used before a noun to describe a mechanism, response, or adaptation.
Patterns
- homoiothermic regulation
- homoiothermic response
Sweating and shivering are part of homoiothermic regulation in humans.
Their homoiothermic response allows them to hunt in very different climates.
Common combinations
- homoiothermic animal
- A homoiothermic animal can keep its temperature steady even when the air around it changes.
- homoiothermic species
- Many homoiothermic species live in regions with severe winters.
- homoiothermic regulation
- The brain plays a key role in homoiothermic regulation.
- become homoiothermic
- Some dinosaurs may have become homoiothermic over time.
Synonyms and how they differ
- warm-blooded
- This is the everyday term for the same idea; use it in general writing and conversation, and homoiothermic in technical reports.
- endothermic
- Endothermic means generating heat mainly from inside the body; homoiothermic focuses on keeping a stable temperature, though the two often overlap.
Opposites
Word family
- homoiothermy noun
- The state or process of keeping a stable body temperature.
- homeothermic adjective
- A variant spelling with the same meaning, common in American English.
- poikilothermic adjective
- Describing animals whose body temperature changes with their surroundings.
Commonly confused: homoiothermic or homeothermic? homoiothermic or endothermic?
homoiothermic vs homeothermic
This is a variant spelling of the same word, not a different meaning. Homoiothermic is more common in British English, while homeothermic appears more in American English.
homoiothermic vs endothermic
Endothermic means producing heat from within, often used for chemical reactions too; homoiothermic specifically describes stable body temperature in animals.
Practice
Which sentence uses homoiothermic correctly?
Choose one answer.
Homoiothermic describes animals that maintain a stable body temperature, so sentence B fits. Sentence An is wrong because homoiothermic is not used for chemical reactions; the correct word there is endothermic. Sentence C is wrong because the word does not describe a feeling, and D is wrong because it is not used for plants.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “homoiothermic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.