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aliform

/ˈeləfɔrm/
IPA guide

Something that's aliform is shaped like a wing or a pair of wings. You might fly an aliform butterfly kite on a windy day.

You're most likely to find the adjective aliform in a science textbook — the word is used in anatomy to describe certain bones that have a winglike shape, and in biology to talk about the shape of actual wings, particularly in butterflies. Aliform is rooted in the modern Latin aliformis, from ala, "wing," and formis, "shape or form."

Definitions of aliform
  1. adjective
    having or resembling wings
    synonyms: alar, alary, wing-shaped
    winged
    having wings or as if having wings of a specified kind
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