lyrate

American  

[lahy-reyt, -rit] / ˈlaɪ reɪt, -rɪt /

Also lyrated

adjective

1. Botany. (of a pinnate leaf ) divided transversely into several lobes, the smallest at the base.

2. Zoology. having the shape of a lyre, as the tail of certain birds.

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lyrate British  

/ ˈlaɪərɪt /

adjective

1. shaped like a lyre

2. (of leaves) having a large terminal lobe and smaller lateral lobes

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lyrately
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of lyrate

From the New Latin word lyrātus, dating back to 1750–60. See lyre, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

The male has long lyrate and annulated horns.

From The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary Section P and Q by Project Gutenberg

Its horns, however, are not lyrate, as in the springbok, but rise first in the plane of its forehead, and then curve boldly forward to the tips.

From The Young Yagers A Narrative of Hunting Adventures in Southern Africa by Reid, Mayne

Seed erect; radicle inferior.—Perennial herbs, with pinnate or lyrate leaves.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Turnip, tur′nip, n. a biennial plant, with lyrate hispid leaves, the upper part of the root becoming, esp. in cultivation, swollen and fleshy—cultivated as a culinary esculent, and for feeding cattle and sheep.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Leaves all lyrate or runcinate, the upper often with a heart-shaped clasping base; panicle larger; achenes distinctly beaked; otherwise as n. 7.—Rich soil, Penn. to Ill., and southward.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa