cruciferous
Americanadjective
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bearing a cross.
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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?
adjective
Etymology
Origin of cruciferous
From Late Latin crucifer + -ous; cruciferous def. 1 was first recorded in 1650–60; cruciferous def. 2 in 1850–55; see origin at crucifer, -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The broccoli rabe was turned into a kind of cruciferous pesto.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
The highest levels of veggie-munching were associated with a 17 percent reduction in colon cancer risk across 17 studies compared to eating no cruciferous vegetables at all.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2025
Perhaps all of the restaurants selling cabbage dishes like hot cakes or Danny’s special dish on this week’s “Top Chef” episode might be the harbinger of a new era for the cruciferous standby.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2024
Building upon their previous work, where the research team demonstrated the abundance of polysulfide molecules in cruciferous vegetables.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2023
The cruciferous, or cress-like tribes afford one-seventh of the species, and the compound flowers are nearly as numerous.
From Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea by John Franklin
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