See Also: crypto-(medicine)
Crypto(health)
crypto-(dictionary)
crypto(dictionary)
crypto-(dictionary)

crypto- (iou)



crypto- combining form. Before a vowel or h also crypt-.
[Greek kruptos hidden: see -O-.]
Forming words, mostly scientific terms, modelled on Greek compounds, with the sense 'concealed, secret, not visible to the naked eye', as cryptogram, cryptobranchiate. Hence as a freely productive elem. forming nouns and adjectives with the sense 'unavowed(ly), not overt(ly)', as crypto-Communist, crypto-Fascist, crypto-Semite.
cryptobiosis noun (Biology) a state of existence in which metabolic activity is reduced to an undetectable level without disappearing altogether M20.
cryptobi'otic adjective (a) designating primitive organisms presumed to have existed in earlier geological periods but to have left no trace of their existence; (b) = CRYPTOZOIC 1; (c) pertaining to or in a state of cryptobiosis: E20.
crypto'branchiate adjective (esp. of certain divisions of crustaceans, gastropods, etc.) having the gills concealed L19.
crypto-'Calvinist noun in 16th-cent. Germany, a Lutheran suspected of harbouring Calvinist sympathies; a Philippist: M18.
crypto'crystalline adjective crystalline, but so finely structured that its crystals are not visible even under a microscope M19.
crypto'genic adjective (of a disease) of obscure or uncertain origin E20.
cryptolect noun a secret or coded language L20.
cryptophyte noun (a) a cryptogam; (b) a plant that bears perennating buds below the surface of the ground: M19.
cryp'torchid noun & adjective (Medicine) (a person) suffering from or exhibiting cryptorchidism L19.
cryp'torchidism noun (Medicine) a condition in which one or both of the testes fail to descend into the scrotum M19.
cryptovol'canic adjective (Geology) (of a structure) that is, or is presumed to be, of volcanic origin although exposed material does not afford direct evidence of volcanic activity E20.
cryptozoo'logical adjective of or pertaining to cryptozoology M20.
cryptozo'ologist noun an expert in or student of cryptozoology M20.
cryptozo'ology noun the search for and study of creatures (e.g. the Loch Ness monster) whose supposed existence is evidenced by tradition, unsubstantiated reports, etc. M20.
cryptozoon , (a) Geology a reef-forming Cambrian fossil, thought to derive from algae; (b) Zoology (in pl.) cryptozoic organisms: L19.