kinesis

[ ki-nee-sis, kahy- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Physiology.

the movement of an organism in response to a stimulus, as light.

-kinesis

a combining form with the general sense “movement, activity,” used in the formation of compound words, often with the particular senses “reaction to a stimulus” ( photokinesis ), “movement without an apparent physical cause” ( telekinesis ), “activity within a cell” ( karyokinesis ).

kinesis

/ kɪˈniːsɪs; kaɪ- /

noun

biology the nondirectional movement of an organism or cell in response to a stimulus, the rate of movement being dependent on the strength of the stimulus

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Word History and Origins

Origin of kinesis¹

1900–05; < Greek kī́nēsis movement, equivalent to kīnē-, verbid stem of kīneîn to move + -sis -sis

Origin of kinesis²

< Greek -kīnēsis; kinesis

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Example Sentences

This season’s pieces merged the kinesis of aquatic life with the stasis of geometric shapes.

From Seattle Times

Nikita then created three images by layering all the filmed footage in a time-lapse spanning the duration of the spoken recording, and collapsed it into static kinesis.

From Los Angeles Times

Elsewhere, it was the realm of gentle optical illusion in patterning that gave several ensembles a kinesis.

From Seattle Times

Despite the unwieldy narrative complications, Hosoda achieves an adroit, ultimately instructive balance of kinesis and stillness.

From Los Angeles Times

His hips follow suit, and soon his whole body is in one smooth kinesis.

From New York Times

kinesiology kinesthesia

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