ruderal

[ roo-der-uhl ]

adjective

(of a plant) growing in waste places, along roadsides or in rubbish.

noun

a ruderal plant.

Origin of ruderal

1855–60; <New Latin rūderālis, equivalent to Latin rūder- (stem of rūdus broken stone, rubble) + -ālis-al¹

Words Nearby ruderal

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

How to use ruderal in a sentence

The latter are often termed ruderal or vagabonds (see p. 29).
Grasses | H. Marshall Ward
Infrequent in the shrub stratum of the dry, ruderal grassland habitat.
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches | Louis M. Roth

British Dictionary definitions for ruderal

ruderal

/ (ˈruːdərəl) /

noun

a plant that grows on waste ground

adjective

growing in waste places

Origin of ruderal

C19: from New Latin rūderālis, from Latin rūdus rubble

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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