See Also: lichen(encyclopedia)
Lichen(medicine)
lichen(2)(dictionary)
lichen(1)(dictionary)
Lichen(health)
lichen(dictionary)
lichen scrofulosorum(medicine)
lichen strophulosus(medicine)
lichen ruber(medicine)
lichen spinulosus(medicine)

lichen(1) (iou)



lichen noun. Pl. -s, same. E17.
[Latin from Greek leikhen.]
1. Any of a large group of composite organisms formed by association of algal cells with a fungus, and occurring as encrusting or branching friable growths on surfaces, to which they give a green, grey, or yellow colour; orig. also, a liverwort. Also collect., such organisms growing as a crust or clump. E17.
2. Medicine & Veterinary Medicine. Any of various unrelated skin conditions usu. characterized by (small) tough excrescences over a more or less limited area. E17.
lichen planus a skin disorder characterized by an eruption of wide, flat, shiny, purple pimples.
Comb.: lichen-starch lichenin; lichen substance any of about 65 compounds, mostly acids, which occur uniquely in lichens.
liche'nicolous adjective inhabiting lichens M19.
lichenification noun (Medicine & Veterinary Medicine) hardening and thickening of the skin caused by scratching or other continued irritation; an area of skin so affected: L19.
lichenin noun a glucan resembling cellulose and occurring esp. in lichens M19.
lichenism noun the symbiosis between alga and fungus which occurs in lichens L19.
lichenist noun = LICHENOLOGIST M19.
liche'nivorous adjective lichen-eating M19.
lichenless adjective M19.
lichenoid adjective resembling (a) lichen M19.
lichenose adjective of the nature of a lichen M19.
licheny adjective overgrown with lichens; lichened: E19.