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acerose1

[as-uh-rohs]
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adjective Botany.
  1. needle-shaped, as the leaves of the pine.
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Also acerate, acerous1.

Origin of acerose1

1775–85; special sense of acerose2, by misattribution of acer- to Latin acus needle, whose stem is acu- and not acer- (cf. acute)

acerose2

[as-uh-rohs]
adjective
  1. resembling chaff.
  2. mixed with chaff.
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Origin of acerose2

1715–25; < Latin acerōsus, equivalent to acer- (stem of acus) chaff + -ōsus -ose1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for acerose

acerose

acerous

adjective
  1. shaped like a needle, as pine leaves
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Word Origin

C18: from Latin acerōsus full of chaff (erroneously used by Linnaeus as if derived from ācer sharp)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012