Cycad
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any plant of the division Cycadophyta, having a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves.
"As has been already remarked, the occurrence of genuine Cycads in the Carboniferous vegetation has not been demonstrated, and the same holds good of all the Palaeozoic floras. True Cycads, therefore, so far as known, make their first appearance in the Trias, at the commencement of the Mesozoic period, where they are represented by the genera Pterophyllum, Zamites, and Podozamites."
- 2 any tropical gymnosperm of the order Cycadales; having unbranched stems with a crown of fernlike leaves wordnet
Example
More examples"As has been already remarked, the occurrence of genuine Cycads in the Carboniferous vegetation has not been demonstrated, and the same holds good of all the Palaeozoic floras. True Cycads, therefore, so far as known, make their first appearance in the Trias, at the commencement of the Mesozoic period, where they are represented by the genera Pterophyllum, Zamites, and Podozamites."
Etymology
From translingual Cycas (“genus of tropical trees”).
Related phrases
More for "cycad"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.