equitant

[ek-wi-tuh nt]

adjective Botany.

straddling or overlapping, as leaves whose bases overlap the leaves above or within them.

Origin of equitant

1820–30; < Latin equitant- (stem of equitāns) (present participle of equitāre to ride), equivalent to equit- (stem of eques; see equites) + -ant- -ant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for equitant

Historical Examples of equitant

Fibrous-rooted, with equitant leaves and perfect 3- or 6-androus flowers.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States
Asa Gray
Among these are the equitant leaves of the Iris or Flower-de-Luce.
The Elements of Botany
Asa Gray
The leaves are ranged on each other's back (equitant) as in the Marsh Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum, t. 535).
Lachesis Lapponica
Carl von Linn
The leaf-sheaths are smooth, equitant with thinly membranous margins.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
Involucral leaves numerous, equitant; perianth ovate-subulate or narrowly fusiform, 3-angled, deeply 6–8-lobed.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States
Asa Gray

British Dictionary definitions for equitant

equitant

adjective

(of a leaf) having the base folded around the stem so that it overlaps the leaf above and opposite

Word Origin for equitant

C19: from Latin equitāns riding, from equitāre to ride, from equus horse

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