Aculeus
//əˈkjuː.lɪ.əs// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A sharp spike or other projection growing on a plant, as in some brambles and roses.
"Many plants, like many animals, are furnished with arms for their protection; these are either aculei, prickles, as in rose and barberry, which are formed from the outer bark of the plant; or spinæ, thorns […]."
- 2 a sharp-pointed process especially a sting of a hymenopterous insect wordnet
- 3 A sting.
- 4 a stiff sharp-pointed plant process wordnet
Example
More examples"Many plants, like many animals, are furnished with arms for their protection; these are either aculei, prickles, as in rose and barberry, which are formed from the outer bark of the plant; or spinæ, thorns […]."
Etymology
From Latin aculeus.
More for "aculeus"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.