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.
Cabbage has long been forgotten among its cruciferous counterparts — broccoli, cauliflower and kohlrabi.
From Salon • Feb. 21, 2026
Rich dietary sources include eggs, poultry, fish, beans and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts.
From Science Daily • Nov. 27, 2025
The broccoli rabe was turned into a kind of cruciferous pesto.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 26, 2025
In this case, if you look at all of the observational research on cruciferous vegetables and colon cancer, it appears that people who eat more of the veggies have less cancer.
From Slate • Sep. 5, 2025
Like its allies the larvae feed upon various cruciferous plants, the hedge mustard being one of these and the adults visit the flowers of the same family.
From Butterflies Worth Knowing by Weed, Clarence M.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
