Cactus meaning

kăktəs
cacti cactuses
See word origin
Frequency:
Any of numerous succulent, spiny, usually leafless plants of the family Cactaceae, native chiefly to arid regions of the Americas, having variously colored, often showy flowers with numerous stamens and petals.
noun
1
0
Any of several similar plants.
noun
1
0
Any desert plant of the cactus family, native to the New World, with fleshy stems, reduced or spinelike leaves, and often showy flowers.
noun
1
0
Designating a family (Cactaceae) of dicotyledonous plants (order Caryophyllales), including the prickly pear, saguaro, and cereus.
adjective
1
2
(botany) Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, including euphorbs.
noun
0
0
(Australia, slang) Non-functional, broken, exhausted.
adjective
0
0
(archaic) A taxonomic genus within the family Cactaceae — original Linnean genus of cactus, rejected in 1905.
pronoun
0
0

Origin of cactus

  • Latin cardoon from Greek kaktos

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin cactus (“a spiny plant, possibly the cardoon”), from Ancient Greek κάκτος (kaktos)

    From Wiktionary

  • Latin cactus, from Ancient Greek κάκτος (kaktos, “cardoon”), of pre-Greek origin.

    From Wiktionary

Cactus Sentence Examples

  • The cactus is unquestionably the characteristic plant of Mexico.

  • The variation is from dwarf mountain pine to giant cactus and dates.

  • Cactus and yucca occur in the west.

  • The entire valley of the Rio Grande, from El Paso to Brownsville, grows many species of cactus, and other prickly coriaceous shrubs.

  • There are broad plains covered with salt and alkali, and others supporting only scattered bunch grass, sage bush, cactus and other arid land plants.

More sentences →

Related articles

Also Mentioned In

Words near cactus in the Dictionary