cactus

cac·tus

cactus

noun

pl. -·tuses or -·ti·

any desert plant of the cactus family, native to the New World, with fleshy stems, reduced or spinelike leaves, and often showy flowers

Origin of cactus

Modern Latin from Classical Greek kaktos, kind of thistle, cardoon

designating a family (Cactaceae) of dicotyledonous plants (order Caryophyllales), including the prickly pear, saguaro, and cereus

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"cactus." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/cactus>.

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cactus. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/cactus

cactus

noun

pl. cac·ti, or cac·tus·es

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.
Any of several similar plants.

Origin of cactus

Latin cardoon from Greek kaktos

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"cactus." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/cactus>.

APA Style

cactus. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/cactus

Noun

(plural cacti or cactuses or cactus)

(botany) Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, including euphorbs.

Usage notes

cactus properly refers to plants belonging to the family Cactaceae. With one exception, all are native to the New World (the Americas). The sole exception is Rhipsalis, a jungle epiphyte found in tropical Africa, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka, as well as North and South America. Informally, cactus is used to refer to any stem succulent adapted to a dry climate, notably species from genus Euphorbia with forms reminiscent of Cactaceae. To be precise, these succulents are correctly described as "cactoid" or "cactiform" unless they are actual members of the Cactaceae.

Adjective

(not comparable)

(Australia, slang) Non-functional, broken, exhausted.

Origin

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

Proper noun

(archaic) A taxonomic genus within the family Cactaceae — original Linnean genus of cactus, rejected in 1905.

Origin

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

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"cactus." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/cactus>.

APA Style

cactus. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/cactus

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