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trifid

American  
[trahy-fid] / ˈtraɪ fɪd /

adjective

  1. cleft into three parts or lobes.


trifid British  
/ ˈtraɪfɪd /

adjective

  1. divided or split into three parts or lobes

"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

Other Word Forms

  • subtrifid adjective

Etymology

Origin of trifid

First recorded in 1745–55, trifid is from the Latin word trifidus split in three. See tri-, -fid

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Leaves.—Radical leaf remote from the stem; trifid; the segments serrate.

From Project Gutenberg

Male calyx is trifid, the corolla three-petalled, with five stamens; the female calyx is quinquefid, the corolla divided into three segments, and furnished with three stamens.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a kind of Rhus; the dark-green, reticulated, trifid leaf—naked and deeply veined above and covered with down beneath,—was quite typical.

From Project Gutenberg

Some of the filaments are bifid, trifid, and even branched.

From Project Gutenberg

Canes long, numerous, slender, dark reddish-brown; nodes enlarged, flattened; internodes long; tendrils intermittent, trifid or bifid.

From Project Gutenberg