dorsiferous

American

[dawr-sif-er-uhs] / dɔrˈsɪf ər əs /

adjective

Botany.

borne on the back, as the sori on most ferns.

dorsiferous British

/ dɔːˈsɪfərəs /

adjective

rare botany zoology bearing or carrying (young, spores, etc) on the back or dorsal surface

"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

Etymology

Origin of dorsiferous

First recorded in 1720–30; dorsi- + -ferous

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.

That this opinion, so confidently held by Linnaeus, was never adopted by any other botanist, seems in part to have arisen from his having extended it to dorsiferous Ferns.

From Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Performed between the years 1818 and 1822 — Volume 2 by King, Phillip Parker

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023