Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A member of a formerly recognized taxonomic group that included all seedless plants and plantlike organisms, such as mosses, algae, ferns, and fungi.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A cryptogamous plant; a plant of the class Cryptogamia.
Wiktionary
- n. A member of a former taxonomic group of plants that reproduce using spores, such as ferns, mosses, algae, fungi, lichens or liverworts.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A plant belonging to the Cryptogamia.
WordNet 3.0
- n. formerly recognized taxonomic group including all flowerless and seedless plants that reproduce by means of spores: ferns, mosses, algae, fungi
Etymologies
- From New Latin Cryptogamia, former group name : crypto- + -gamia, -gamy. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The nitrogen fixation potential of arctic cryptogam species is influenced by enhanced UV-B radiation.”
Phenotypic responses of arctic species to changes in climate and ultraviolet-B radiation
“To the north of this zone is the high Arctic, which consists of polar semi-desert communities (Fig. 7.18) in the south, characterized by cryptogam – herb, cushion plant – cryptogam, and, to a limited extent, mire communities.”
“To the extreme north is the polar desert where only about 5% of the ground surface is covered by herb – cryptogam communities (Fig. 7.19).”
“Terror of the noonstruck by day, cryptogam of each nightly bridable.”
“This observer claimed to have discovered in the cankerous secretions the existence of a vegetable parasite (namely, a cryptogam, as in favus), which he termed the keraphyton, or parasitic plant of the horn.”
“These primordial germs, or the _ZRA_ of the Bible genesis, must have preceded the first fungous growth, as they preceded the first spore-bearing cryptogam.”
“Universally, the germ precedes the tree, as the tree precedes the seed, in all vegetal growths, from the lowest cryptogam to the lordliest conifer of the Pacific slope.”
“Gemiasmas produce ague, it is by no means proved that no other cryptogam may not produce malaria.”
“Mammal, amphibian, coleoptera, dicotyledon, cryptogam, -- all these terms, which, if they were translated into the language of a peasant, would be seen to record very simple observations, yet do lend a kind of formal majesty to ignorance.”
“The forgotten training soon comes back to our invaluable auxiliary; a mere twitch of the ear is a sufficient hint for her to retire at the right moment, and wait for the corn that is in variably given in exchange for the cryptogam.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cryptogam’.
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Phonestheme: CR- (or KR-)
Grateful credit to pterodactyl and http://reocities.com/SoHo/Studios/9783/phond1.html.
crook, crack, crane, cremains, cranberries, crimp, crow, crunch, crash, creak, croak, cronk and 94 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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misc. plant morphology
the concise british flora in colour (w. keble martin) - glossary - edited, and to be added to
whorled, viviparous, vittae, viscid, villous, valvate, unarmed, umbellate, umbel, tubercle, triquetrous, trigonous and 135 more...
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the cryptkeeper
crypt- (and -crypt) words
crypt, cryptic, cryptorchid, cryptography, cryptozoology, cryptococcus, cryptogram, encrypt, decrypt, cryptonym, cryptogam, cryptosporidia and 7 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cryptogam.
reesetee Great word, sarra! Thanks. Feb 28, 2007
seanahan The gam here is the same as gamete. Feb 28, 2007
sarra not a typographical slip for cryptogram. Gr. kryptos, hidden + gamos, marriage — one whose reproduction is mysterious: a flowerless, seedless plant. Feb 28, 2007