Link Centre Dictionary

cactus

cac·tus

UK/ˈkæktəs/ US/ˈkæktʌs/ fairly common slang

noun

1.

any spiny succulent plant of the family Cactaceae native chiefly to arid regions of the New World

Origin

From taxonomic name Cactus, a name given in 1752 by Linnaeus for a genus of cacti (now superseded by the genus name Mammillaria), from Latin cactus, from Ancient Greek κάκτος (káktos, “cardoon”), possibly of Pre-Greek origin.

Phrases

  • Aaron's beard cactus
  • Aaron's-beard cactus
  • agave cactus
  • apple cactus
  • ball cactus
  • balloon cactus
  • barbed-wire cactus
  • barrel cactus

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.