Adjacent Words

Deciduous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DECID'UOUS, a. [L. to fall.] Falling; not perennial or permanent. In botany, a deciduous leaf is one which falls in autumn; a deciduous calyx, is that which falls after the corol opens; distinguished from permanent.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: (of plants and shrubs) shedding foliage at the end of the growing season [ant: evergreen]
2: (of teeth, antlers, etc.) being shed at the end of a period of growth; "deciduous teeth"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin deciduus, from decidere to fall off, from de- + cadere to fall — more at chance Date: 1688 1. falling off or shed seasonally or at a certain stage of development in the life cycle <deciduous leaves> <deciduous scales> 2. a. having deciduous parts <maples, birches, and other deciduous trees> b. having the dominant plants deciduous <a deciduous forest> 3. ephemeral • deciduousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 (of a tree) shedding its leaves annually. 2 (of leaves, horns, teeth, etc.) shed periodically. 3 (of an ant etc.) shedding its wings after copulation. 4 fleeting, transitory. Derivatives: deciduousness n. Etymology: L deciduus f. decidere f. cadere fall

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Deciduous De*cid"u*ous (?; 135), a. [L. deciduus, fr. dec?dere to fall off; de- + cadere to fall. See Chance.] (Biol.) Falling off, or subject to fall or be shed, at a certain season, or a certain stage or interval of growth, as leaves (except of evergreens) in autumn, or as parts of animals, such as hair, teeth, antlers, etc.; also, shedding leaves or parts at certain seasons, stages, or intervals; as, deciduous trees; the deciduous membrane.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

A deciduous tree or bush is one that loses its leaves in the autumn every year. ? evergreen ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. (Bot.) Non-perennial, temporary, caducous.

Moby Thesaurus

arborary, arboreal, arboreous, arborescent, arboresque, arborical, arboriform, brittle, bushlike, bushy, capricious, changeable, citrous, collapsing, coniferous, corruptible, declining, declivitous, decurrent, dendriform, dendritic, dendroid, descendant, descending, down, down-reaching, downcoming, downfalling, downgoing, downhill, downsinking, downward, drooping, dropping, dying, ephemeral, evanescent, evergreen, fading, falling, fickle, fleeting, flitting, fly-by-night, flying, fragile, frail, fugacious, fugitive, half-hardy, hardwood, hardy, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, inconstant, insubstantial, momentary, mortal, mutable, nondeciduous, nondurable, nonpermanent, on the descendant, on the downgrade, passing, perennial, perishable, piny, plummeting, plunging, sagging, scrubbly, scrubby, scrublike, setting, short-lived, shrubby, shrublike, sinking, softwood, submerging, subsiding, temporal, temporary, tottering, transient, transitive, transitory, treelike, tumbledown, undurable, unenduring, unstable, volatile