equisetum

[ ek-wuh-see-tuhm ]

noun,plural eq·ui·se·tums, eq·ui·se·ta

[ek-wuh-see-tuh]. /ˌɛk wəˈsi tə/.

any plant of the genus Equisetum, comprising the horsetails.

Origin of equisetum

1820–30; <New Latin; Latin equisaetum, equivalent to equi-, combining form of equus horse + saet(a) bristle + -um neuter noun suffix

Other words from equisetum

eq·ui·se·tic, adjective

Words Nearby equisetum

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use equisetum in a sentence

Mike's Head is probably a popular name for the rush of the equisetum species, known as "horsetail."
Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XXX | Joel Palmer
In this connection his figuring young plants of equisetum attached to prothalli is interesting.
Makers of British Botany; a collection of biographies by living botanists | Various
The swampy regions by the rivers are covered with equisetum and Scirpus cspitosus; and they are very abundant on the mountains.
Across Iceland | William Bisiker
To take away the unevennesses and roughnesses dried shave-grass (equisetum) answers best.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines | Andrew Ure
In the more damp and marshy places the bottom is covered with marsh trefoil, carex, smooth equisetum, and rush.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 5 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for equisetum

equisetum

/ (ˌɛkwɪˈsiːtəm) /

nounplural -tums or -ta (-tə)

any tracheophyte plant of the genus Equisetum, which comprises the horsetails

Origin of equisetum

C19: New Latin, changed from Latin equisaetum, from equus horse + saeta bristle

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

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