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anadromy
/əˈnædrəmi/Migration of adult fish from sea to freshwater
From Greek ana (up) + Greek drom (road).
Word Ancestry
A salmon spends much of its adult life in the ocean, then turns toward the river that will serve as its nursery—a biological homecoming disguised as a commute. The name combines Greek aná, “up” or “back,” with drómos, a “road” or “course,” so anadromy is essentially an upward journey along a watery road. That second root has wandered into familiar territory: a hippodrome was originally a Greek course for horses, while a dromedary is linked to the idea of a running animal. The contrasting pattern, catadromy, describes fish that grow up in fresh water and travel down to the sea, using the opposite directional image. Remember anadromy as the salmon’s “up-road”: adulthood in the salt water, the next generation launched upstream.
The Story
A salmon spends much of its adult life in the ocean, then turns toward the river that will serve as its nursery—a biological homecoming disguised as a commute. The name combines Greek aná, “up” or “back,” with drómos, a “road” or “course,” so anadromy is essentially an upward journey along a watery road. That second root has wandered into familiar territory: a hippodrome was originally a Greek course for horses, while a dromedary is linked to the idea of a running animal. The contrasting pattern, catadromy, describes fish that grow up in fresh water and travel down to the sea, using the opposite directional image. Remember anadromy as the salmon’s “up-road”: adulthood in the salt water, the next generation launched upstream.
Kin & Kindred
From 'ana'·up, back, again
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'drom'·road, course, running
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Wikipedia