zamia

American

[zey-mee-uh] / ˈzeɪ mi ə /

noun

any of various plants of the genus Zamia, chiefly of tropical and subtropical America, having a short, tuberous stem and a crown of palmlike pinnate leaves.

zamia British

/ ˈzeɪmɪə /

noun

any cycadaceous plant of the genus Zamia, of tropical and subtropical America, having a short thick trunk, palmlike leaves, and short stout cones

"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

Etymology

Origin of zamia

1810–20; < New Latin, misreading of Latin (Pliny) ( nucēs ) azāniae (plural) pine cone (nuts)

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.

I crouched behind the thick tussocks of the zamias.

From Project Gutenberg

But there is also a growth of buried underwood, consisting of arbutus, barberry, fuchsias, flowering currants, and a singular fern, also occurring in the island of Juan Fernandez, and resembling the zamia of Australia.

From Project Gutenberg

I cross thy fields of lava, rugged in outline, and yet more rugged with their coverture of strange vegetable forms—acacias and cactus, yuccas and zamias.

From Project Gutenberg

It then suddenly changed into red sandy stringy-bark ridges, with a dense under-growth of vines, zamias, and pandanus, which made the walking difficult and painful.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023