cruciferous

[ kroo-sif-er-uhs ]

adjective

1. bearing a cross.
2. Botany. belonging to the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae), the mustard family of plants; brassicaceous:

   Are you getting enough broccoli, cauliflower, and other cruciferous vegetables in your diet?

cruciferous

/ kruːˈsɪfərəs /

adjective

1. See crucifer
   of, relating to, or belonging to the plant family Cruciferae See crucifer

Word History and Origins

Origin of cruciferous¹

From Late Latin crucifer + -ous; cruciferous def 1 was first recorded in 1650–60; cruciferous def 2 in 1850–55; crucifer, -ous

Example Sentences

Eating lots of cruciferous vegetables—such as broccoli, cabbage, and onions—can also increase the risk of bad-smelling gas or stools.

From Time

The soil is clayey, and thinly bestrewed with alpine grass, intermingled with syngenesious and cruciferous plants.

From Project Gutenberg

Its caterpillar lives near the regions of perpetual snow, on small cruciferous plants.

From Project Gutenberg

Scur′viness, state of being scurvy: meanness; Scur′vy-grass, a genus of cruciferous plants, efficacious in curing scurvy.

From Project Gutenberg

Eight hundred fathoms broad at this point, the Niger flowed between banks richly grown with cruciferous plants and tamarind-trees.

From Project Gutenberg

The cruciferous, or cress-like tribes afford one-seventh of the species, and the compound flowers are nearly as numerous.

From Project Gutenberg