Falciferous

//fælˈsɪfəɹəs// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Sickle-bearing. not-comparable, rare

    "The stinted growth of the stationary Conchifera forms a striking contrast with the size and number of the Cephalopoda interred with them in the same bed; in fact the dawning existence of these Conchifera appears to have been a struggle for life, whilst the conditions of the closing scene of the Belemnites, Nautili, and falciferous Ammonites, were favourable to their continuance in time, but abruptly brought to a termination by some great physical change which took place about the commencement of the deposition of the oolitic formations."

Example

More examples

"The stinted growth of the stationary Conchifera forms a striking contrast with the size and number of the Cephalopoda interred with them in the same bed; in fact the dawning existence of these Conchifera appears to have been a struggle for life, whilst the conditions of the closing scene of the Belemnites, Nautili, and falciferous Ammonites, were favourable to their continuance in time, but abruptly brought to a termination by some great physical change which took place about the commencement of the deposition of the oolitic formations."

Etymology

From Latin falx (“sickle”) + -i- + -ferous (“-bearing”).

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