What does "coniferous" mean?

Bearing cones, as the pine and cypress.

What is a synonym for "coniferous"?

Common synonyms include: arboreal, bushy, cone bearing, cone-bearing, deciduous, evergreen.

Pronounced //kəˈnɪfəɹəs//.

//kəˈnɪfəɹəs// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Adjective

1
Bearing cones, as the pine and cypress.
2
Of, or pertaining to, a conifer.
"During the first part of the oligocratic stage, leaching of brown soils produces acid podzols that favour coniferous woodlands and heaths."

Adjective

1
of or relating to or part of trees or shrubs bearing cones and evergreen leaves wordnet

"The larch is a coniferous tree, growing in the mountains, that sheds its needles in the winter."

From Latin. By surface analysis, cone + -i- + -ferous (“bearing”), or conifer + -ous (“pertaining to”), as reflected in the meanings.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.