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# neoteny

«neoteny» in Mova's school dictionary: **Keeping young or baby-like features after growing up, in…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (neoteny — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

(science) Keeping young or baby-like features after growing up, in animals or people. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neoteny/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

A biology word: the axolotl, a Mexican salamander, keeps its feathery gills and stays in water all its life, a famous case of neoteny. Scientists say dogs show neoteny compared with wolves (floppy ears, playfulness), and humans have flat faces and big heads, like young apes.

### examples

- The axolotl is a famous example of neoteny. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neoteny/#x1)
- Neoteny means an animal keeps baby features as an adult. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neoteny/#x2)
- Some scientists think puppy-like dogs show neoteny. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neoteny/#x3)
- Our science teacher explained neoteny using salamanders. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neoteny/#x4)
- Humans show some neoteny compared with chimpanzees. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neoteny/#x5)
- Because of neoteny, the axolotl keeps its gills. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neoteny/#x6)
- Neoteny can make adult animals look cute. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neoteny/#x7)

### note

Uncountable, a specialist science word. Pronounced "nee-OT-uh-nee". From Greek "neo" (new, young). Adjective: "neotenous".

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «neoteny» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neoteny/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.