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
Root vegetables — like carrots, onions, potatoes and beets — winter squashes, cruciferous vegetables and greens are just a few notable cold-weather favorites.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 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
In the case of some species the whole yearly cycle has been adapted to correspond to the yearly history of the cruciferous food plant.
From Butterflies Worth Knowing by Clarence M. Weed
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.
