cruciferous

[kroo-sif-er-uh s]

adjective

bearing a cross.

Botany. belonging to the Cruciferae, the mustard family of plants.

Compare mustard family.

Origin of cruciferous

1650–60; < Late Latin crucifer crucifer; see -ous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cruciferous

Historical Examples of cruciferous

Belongs to the cruciferous family, and—Hang the cruciferous family!
The New Mistress
George Manville Fenn
Woad is a cruciferous plant, Isatis tinctoria, used for dyeing.
The High Deeds of Finn and other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland
T. W. Rolleston
Anastatica, a genus of cruciferous plants, including the Rose of Jericho (A. hierochuntica).
The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 2
Various
It occurs in cruciferous plants, as wallflower, cabbage and cress.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3
Various
The Cruciferous plants form so natural an order, that when one of them has been described the others may be easily recognised.
Botany for Ladies
Jane Loudon

British Dictionary definitions for cruciferous

cruciferous

adjective

of, relating to, or belonging to the plant family CruciferaeSee crucifer (def. 1)

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

Word Origin and History for cruciferous

adj.

1650s, from Late Latin crucifer "cross-bearing," from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "stake, cross" (see cross (n.)). Originally in literal senses; botanical use (in reference to a symmetrical arrangement of four petals) is from 1851.