subpatentadj.
/ˌsʌbˈpeɪtnt/, U.S. /ˌsəbˈpeɪtnt/ 1. Botany. Of a part of a plant: somewhat or partially patent (patent adj. 7b).
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1818 W. J. Hooker & T. Taylor Muscologia Britannica 115 Leaves erect, appressed, or subpatent, lanceolate, acute, serrated, especially towards the extremity, the margins recurved.
1875 Gardeners’ Chron. 9 Oct. 452/3 The dark purple-black double corona is included in the very short tube of the corolla, consisting of an outer corona of five subpatent obtuse bifid lobes.
1949 Kew Bull. 4 50 This form differs from the described varieties of C[odonocephalum] lappaceum in the smaller less globose capitula..with the spines of the involucral bracts subpatent and erect.
2005 Folia Geobotanica 40 428/3 Lower leaf surface often slightly greyish, densely hairy, with subpatent intertwined hairs.
2. Medicine. Of a parasite or parasitic infection: present but not detectable by standard laboratory methods; cf. patent adj. 4b. Also: of or relating to such an infection.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > parasitic disorders > [adjective] > detectable or not detectable
patent1926
prepatent1926
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1926 Q. Rev. Biol. 1 399/2 In many infections the patent period is followed by a Subpatent Period of indefinite length.
1947 Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 1 49 Subpatent infections persisted in some individual ducks for as long as eight months after they had been inoculated with sporozoites.
1974 J. R. Baker in Trypanosomiasis & Leishmaniasis: Ciba Found. Symp. 1973 32 Parasites may often be subpatent, that is, too scanty to be detected by microscopic examination.
2005 S. Wolfe-Coote et al. Lab. Primate vi. 95/2 A clinically silent ‘indeterminate’ phase follows, with sub-patent parasitemias.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1818