crucifer

American  

[kroo-suh-fer] / ˈkru sə fər /

noun

1. a person who carries a cross, as in ecclesiastical processions.

2. Botany. a cruciferous plant.

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crucifer British  

/ ˈkruːsɪfə, kruːˈsɪfərəs /

noun

1. any plant of the family Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae ), having a corolla of four petals arranged like a cross and a fruit called a siliqua. The family includes the brassicas, mustard, cress, and wallflower

2. a person who carries a cross

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crucifer Scientific  

/ kro̅o̅′sə-fər /

1. Any of various plants in the mustard family (Cruciferae or Brassicaceae), including many important food plants, such as bok choy, cabbage, and radishes, as well as certain ornamental flowers.

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Other Word Forms

• cruciferous
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of crucifer

1565–75; < Late Latin, equivalent to Latin cruci- (stem of crux ) cross + -fer -fer

Example Sentences

Which makes for some desperate shoppers who will pay any price to get their hands on the coveted crucifer.

From Washington Post • Jan. 15, 2016

Into the crowded cathedral filed a crucifer and 14 men in white cotton robes.

From Time Magazine Archive

To assist the red-robed Episcopal primate in the job at hand were the young man's onetime headmaster as preacher, his younger brother as crucifer, two of his cousins as crosier-bearer and litanist.

From Time Magazine Archive

Anda skinny little substitute crucifer, home from boarding school, would tell himself tremblingly: "Boy, I sure do."

From Time Magazine Archive

After the service in the church the procession of choir and clergy, headed by the crucifer, issues from the doorway, followed by stalwart men carrying the bier upon their shoulders.

From The Story of Cooperstown by Birdsall, Ralph