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Cactus - 4 dictionary results
cac⋅tus
[kak-tuh
s] 
–noun, plural -ti [-tahy] , -tus⋅es, -tus.
[-tahy] , -tus⋅es, -tus. | any of numerous succulent plants of the family Cactaceae, of warm, arid regions of the New World, having fleshy, leafless, usually spiny stems, and typically having solitary, showy flowers. |
Origin:
1600–10; < L < Gk káktos cardoon
1600–10; < L < Gk káktos cardoon
Related forms:
cac⋅tus⋅like, cactoid, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Cactus
| cac·tus (kāk'təs) n. pl. cac·ti (-tī') or cac·tus·es
[Latin, cardoon, from Greek kaktos.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cactus
Cac"tus\, n.; pl. E. Cactuses, Cacti (-t[=i]). [L., a kind of cactus, Gr. ??????.] (Bot.) Any plant of the order Cactac[ae], as the prickly pear and the night-blooming cereus. See Cereus. They usually have leafless stems and branches, often beset with clustered thorns, and are mostly natives of the warmer parts of America. Cactus wren (Zo["o]l.), an American wren of the genus Campylorhynchus, of several species.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Cactus
Spanish:
cactus,
German:
der Kaktus,
Japanese:
さぼてん
cactus
1607, from L. cactus "cardoon," from Gk. kaktos, name of a type of prickly plant of Sicily (the Spanish artichoke). Modern meaning is 18c., because Linnaeus gave the name to a group of plants he thought were related to this but are not.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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