dicotyledon

[ dahy-kot-l-eed-n, dahy-kot-l- ]

noun

, Botany.

1. any angiospermous plant of the class (or subclass) Dicotyledoneae, producing seeds with two cotyledons and having an exogenous manner of growth.

dicotyledon

/ daɪˌkɒtɪˈliːdən; ˌdaɪkɒt- /

noun

1. any flowering plant of the class Dicotyledonae , normally having two embryonic seed leaves and leaves with netlike veins. The group includes many herbaceous plants and most families of trees and shrubs
2. primitive dicotyledon . any living relative of early angiosperms that branched off before the evolution of monocotyledons and eudicotyledons. The group comprises about 5 per cent of the world's plants

dicotyledon

/ dī′kŏt′l-ēd′n /

1. An angiosperm that is not a monocotyledon, having two cotyledons in the seed. The term dicotyledon serves as a convenient label for the eudicotyledons, the magnoliids, and a varied group of other angiosperms, but it does not correspond to a single taxonomic group.
2. Compare monocotyledonSee more at eudicotyledon

Derived Forms

• ˌdicotyˈledonous, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dicotyledon¹

First recorded in 1720–30, dicotyledon is from the New Latin word Dicotyledones a pre-Linnean grouping of such plants. See di- ¹, cotyledon

Example Sentences

I will describe as examples the reproduction of a moss, a fern, and a dicotyledon.

From Project Gutenberg

A primrose by the river's brim a dicotyledon was to him, and it was nothing more.

From Project Gutenberg