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lichen

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li⋅chen

  [lahy-kuhn]
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–noun
1. any complex organism of the group Lichenes, composed of a fungus in symbiotic union with an alga and having a greenish, gray, yellow, brown, or blackish thallus that grows in leaflike, crustlike, or branching forms on rocks, trees, etc.
2. Pathology. any of various eruptive skin diseases.
–verb (used with object)
3. to cover with or as if with lichens.
Origin:
1595–1605; < L līchēn < Gk leichn

Related forms:
li⋅chen⋅i⋅za⋅tion, noun
li⋅chen⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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li·chen   (lī'kən)   
n.  

  1. A fungus, usually of the class Ascomycetes, that grows symbiotically with algae, resulting in a composite organism that characteristically forms a crustlike or branching growth on rocks or tree trunks.

  2. Pathology Any of various skin diseases characterized by patchy eruptions of small, firm papules.

tr.v.   li·chened, li·chen·ing, li·chens
To cover with lichens.

[Latin līchēn, a kind of plant, from Greek leikhēn, from leikhein, to lick; see leigh- in Indo-European roots.]
li'chen·ous adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

lichen 
1601, from L. lichen, from Gk. leichen, originally "what eats around itself," probably from leichein "to lick" (see lick). Originally used of liverwort; the modern sense first recorded 1715.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: li·chen
Pronunciation: 'lI-k&n
Function: noun
1 : any of several skin diseases characterized by the eruption of flat papules;especially : LICHEN PLANUS
2 : any of numerous complex thallophytic plants (groupLichenes) made up of an alga and a fungus growing in symbiotic association on a solid surface (as a rock)
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

lichen li·chen (lī'kən)
n.
Any of various skin diseases characterized by patchy eruptions of small, firm papules.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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