Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

circinate

[sur-suh-neyt]
See more synonyms for circinate on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. made round; ring-shaped.
  2. Botany, Mycology. rolled up on the axis at the apex, as a leaf or fruiting body.
Show More

Origin of circinate

1820–30; < Latin circinātus (past participle of circināre to make round), equivalent to circin(us) pair of compasses (akin to circus) + -ātus -ate1
Related formscir·ci·nate·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

oblique, round, spheroid, indirect, rounded, annular, circinate, circling, orbicular

Examples from the Web for circinate

Historical Examples

  • Scorpioid or Scorpioidal, curved or circinate at the end, 77.

    The Elements of Botany

    Asa Gray

  • Most Ferns are circinate in the bud; that is, are rolled up in the manner shown in Fig. 197.

British Dictionary definitions for circinate

circinate

adjective
  1. botany (of part of a plant, such as a young fern) coiled so that the tip is at the centre
  2. anatomy resembling a ring or a circle
Show More
Derived Formscircinately, adverb

Word Origin

C19: from Latin circināre to make round, from circinus pair of compasses, from circus, see circus
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
circinate in Medicine

circinate

(sûr′sə-nāt′)
adj.
  1. Circular; ring-shaped.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
circinate in Science

circinate

[sûr′sə-nāt′]
  1. Rolled up in the form of a coil with the tip in the center, as an unexpanded fern frond. See more at vernation.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.