To assume or form a tree-like or branching structure; to develop branches in a pattern resembling a tree.
From arbor (tree) + -ize (suffix meaning to make or cause to become, from Greek -izein). This word is primarily used in biological and scientific contexts to describe branching patterns.
Minerals can arborize too—manganese oxide creates 'dendrites' (tree-shaped crystals) on rocks, and some fossils show fern-like patterns called 'dendritic' that look like trees but are actually mineral formations.
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