[sahy-kad] 
| any gymnospermous plant of the order Cycadales, intermediate in appearance between ferns and the palms, many species having a thick, unbranched, columnar trunk bearing a crown of large, leathery, pinnate leaves. |
| cy·cad (sī'kād', -kəd) n. Any of various palmlike gymnospermous cone-bearing evergreen plants of the division Cycadophyta, native to warm regions and having large pinnately compound leaves. [New Latin Cycas, Cycad-, genus name, from Greek kukas, erroneous reading of koïkas, accusative pl. of koïx, a kind of palm tree, perhaps of Egyptian origin.] |
