bombax family
[ bom-baks ]
/ ˈbɒm bæks /
noun
the plant family Bombacaceae, typified by tropical deciduous trees having palmate leaves, large and often showy solitary or clustered flowers, and dry fruit with a woolly pulp, and including the baobab and silk-cotton tree.
RELATED CONTENT
Made-Up Words: Twitter’s Favorite Family MalapropismsJust about every family has a word that makes sense only to them. There's even an official term for this phenomenon: malapropism, a noun that means "an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound." So, we asked Dictionary.com fans to share some of their favorite family malapropisms and explain their backstories.
Nearby words
bombardier beetle, bombardon, bombasine, bombast, bombastic, bombax family, bombay, bombay duck, bombay hills, bombazine, bombe
Origin of bombax family
< New Latin (Linnaeus): the silk-cotton tree genus; Medieval Latin: silk, cotton, alteration of Latin bombȳx silkworm, silk < Greek bómbȳx silkworm; see bombycid
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019