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Gracility is slenderness, the condition of being gracile, which means slender. It derives from the Latin adjective ''gracilis'' (masculine or feminine), or ''gracile'' (neuter)〔Gray, Mason D., Jenkins, Thornton; “Latin for Today, Book 2”; Pub: Ginn and Co., Ltd. (1934) 〕 which in either form means slender, and when transferred for example to discourse, takes the sense of "without ornament", "simple", or various similar connotations. In his famous "Glossary of Botanic Terms", B. D. Jackson speaks dismissively〔Jackson, Benjamin Daydon; "A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent" 4th Ed. 1928; Pub: Gerald Duckworth & Co. London, W.C.2〕 of an entry in earlier dictionary of A. A. Crozier〔Crozier, Arthur Alger; “A Dictionary of Botanical Terms”, Pub.: Henry Holt & Co 1893. 〕 as follows: ''Gracilis (Lat.), slender. Crozier has the needless word "gracile"''. However, his objection would be hard to sustain in current usage; apart from the fact that "gracile" is a natural and convenient term, it is hardly a neologism; the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary〔Little, William; Fowler H.W.; Coulson J.; Onions, C.T. (Ed.): "Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principals". Pub.: Oxford at the Clarendon Press (1968).〕 gives the source date for that usage as 1623. In the same entry for ''Gracile'', the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary remarks: ''Recently misused (through association with grace) for Gracefully slender.'' This misuse is unfortunate at least, because the terms ''gracile'' and ''grace'' are completely unrelated: the etymological root of ''grace'' is the Latin word ''gratia'' from ''gratus'', meaning pleasing〔 and nothing to do with slenderness or thinness. == In biology == In biology, the term is in common use, whether as English or Latin: * The term ''gracile''—and its opposite, ''robust''—occur in discussion of the morphology of various hominids for example. * The ''gracile fasciculus'' is a particular bundle of axon fibres in the spinal cord * The gracile nucleus is a particular structure of neurons in the medulla oblongata * "GRACILE syndrome", is associated with a BCS1L mutation In biological taxonomy, ''gracile'' is the specific name or specific epithet for various species. Where the gender is appropriate, the form is ''gracilis''. Examples include: * ''Campylobacter gracilis, a species of bacterium implicated in foodborne disease * ''Ctenochasma gracile'', a late Jurassic pterosaur * ''Eriophorum gracile'', a species of sedge, Cyperaceae * ''Euglena gracilis'', a unicellular flagellate protist * ''Hydrophis gracilis'', a species of sea snakes * ''Melampodium gracile'', a flowering plant species * ''Moeritherium gracile'', an Eocene mammal species The same root appears in the names of some genera and higher taxa: * ''Gracilaria'' is a genus of red algae in the order ''Gracilariales'' * ''Gracillaria'' is a genus of leaf miner moths in the superfamily ''Gracillarioidea'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「gracility」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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