cactus

[kak-tuhs]

noun

plural

cacti, cactuses, cactus. 

1. any of numerous succulent plants of the family Cactaceae, of warm, arid regions of the New World, having fleshy, leafless, usually spiny stems, and typically having solitary, showy flowers.

cactus

/ kækˈteɪʃəs, ˈkæktəs /

noun

1. any spiny succulent plant of the family Cactaceae of the arid regions of America. Cactuses have swollen tough stems, leaves reduced to spines or scales, and often large brightly coloured flowers

2. a double-flowered variety of dahlia

Other Word Forms

• cactuslike adjective
• cactoid adjective
• cactaceous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cactus¹

1600–10; < Latin < Greek káktos cardoon

Word History and Origins

Origin of cactus¹

C17: from Latin: prickly plant, from Greek kaktos cardoon

Example Sentences

Inside, the gardens are divided into houses highlighting different plants and climates — from the Palm House with over 70 palms, to the fern room, to the desert house filled with cacti and succulents.

From Salon

“Just, like, cactuses and a dirt road and stuff?”

From Los Angeles Times

Initially they thought they would focus on native succulents and cactus for their yard until they began noticing white sage, buckwheats and sagebrush when they went running in the Laguna Hills and Santa Ana Mountains.

From Los Angeles Times

Their middle-school classmates include a ghost, a cloud, a banana, an ice cream cone, a daisy, a balloon, a cactus, a T. Rex and a flying eyeball.

From Los Angeles Times

Among the cactuses in the desert of Arizona, just outside Phoenix, an extraordinary collection of buildings is emerging that will shape the future of the global economy and the world.

From BBC

When To Use

Plural word for cactus

The plural form of cactus can be either cacti, cactuses, or cactus. Cacti is most commonly used. Like many words derived from Latin, it is pluralized by replacing the -us ending with -i, as in fungus/fungi and nucleus/nuclei. However, the plural form cactuses, created by adding the typical -es to the end, is also correct. This alternative plural form is also acceptable for some other Latin-derived or related terms, as in focus/foci/focuses and radius/radii/radiuses.