equitant

[ ek-wi-tuhnt ]

/ ˈɛk wɪ tənt /

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adjective Botany.

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

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THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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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

Words nearby equitant

equirotal, equisetoid, equisetum, equitable, equitably, equitant, equitation, equites, equities, equity, equity capital

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

How to use equitant in a sentence

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
These are tufted perennial grasses with rigid equitant leaves at the base.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
The nodes are glabrous mostly bearing tufts of leaves with compressed equitant sheaths.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
Nodes are glabrous and dark-ringed, and with fan-like spreading equitant leaf-sheaths and leaves more especially when rooting.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

The leaf-sheaths are smooth, equitant with thinly membranous margins.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

British Dictionary definitions for equitant

equitant

/ (ˈɛkwɪtənt) /

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