cactus
/ˈkæktəs/ noun, adjective, proper noun
Forms cacti cactuses cactusses
- noun (botany) Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
- noun Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.
- noun (by extension) A vivid green color inspired by the color of cacti.
- adjective (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Non-functional, broken, exhausted, dead.
- proper noun A city in Texas.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in California.
Synonyms
Etymology
From taxonomic name Cactus, a name given in 1752 by Linnaeus for a genus of cacti (now superseded by the genus name Mammillaria), from Latin cactus, from Ancient Greek κάκτος (káktos, “cardoon”), possibly of Pre-Greek origin.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any plant of the order Cactacæ, as the prickly pear and the night-blooming cereus. See Cereus. They usually have leafless stems and branches, often beset with clustered thorns, and are mostly natives of the warmer parts of America. Cactus wren (Zoöl.), an American wren of the genus Campylorhynchus, of several species.
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cactus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details