Standard Lemma guide

oligolecty

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɒlɪɡə(ʊ)ˈlɛkti/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɒˌlɪɡə(ʊ)-/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌɑləɡoʊˈlɛkti/
  • General-American: /ˌoʊ-/
  • General-American: /əˌlɪɡə-/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The preference of an insect pollinator (chiefly a bee) for pollinating only a few plant species.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: biology, entomology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Probably from oligolectic + -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting conditions, qualities, or states). Oligolectic is derived from English oligo- (prefix meaning ‘few’) (from Ancient Greek ὀλῐ́γος (olĭ́gos, “few, little”), from Proto-Indo-European *(o)leyg- (“indigent, poor; miserable”)) + Ancient Greek λεκτός (lektós, “chosen”) (from λέγω (légō, “to choose; to arrange; to gather”), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect, gather”)) + English -ic (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ from nouns), possibly modelled after eclectic.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: قِلَّة الجَمْع — preference of an insect pollinator for pollinating only a few plant species
  • French: oligolectisme — preference of an insect pollinator for pollinating only a few plant species
  • German: Oligolektie — preference of an insect pollinator for pollinating only a few plant species
  • Russian: олиголе́кция (oligolékcija) — preference of an insect pollinator for pollinating only a few plant species
  • Spanish: oligolectia — preference of an insect pollinator for pollinating only a few plant species
  • Swedish: oligolekti — preference of an insect pollinator for pollinating only a few plant species