Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of beautiful tropical American trees, with milky juice, natural order Urticaceæ.
  • noun [lowercase] In entomology, a moth, Attacus cecropia.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A silkworm moth, Hyalophora cecropia, native to North America, having red white and black markings

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large genus of tropical American trees that yield a bast fiber used for cordage and bark used in tanning; milky juice yields caoutchouc
  • noun North American silkworm moth; larvae feed on the leaves of forest trees

Etymologies

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Examples

  • He called the cecropia fruit mangimeowe and noted that it is eaten and dispersed by toucans and piping guans.

    One River Wade Davis 1996

  • He called the cecropia fruit mangimeowe and noted that it is eaten and dispersed by toucans and piping guans.

    One River Wade Davis 1996

  • We duck under a wasp nest hanging low from a kapok, and see a great black hawk draping its wings in the sun on the top of a cecropia.

    Take Me to the River Andrew McCarthy 2011

  • He will live in one type of tree, eat one sort of food product, eat cecropia leaves.

    CNN Transcript Feb 16, 2007 2007

  • Thankfully, the rain did not resume as they sat down next to one another beneath the ample bole of a big cecropia to wait for morning.

    The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

  • Every species of cecropia has living within the hollow nodes of its trunk a distinct species of fire ant.

    One River Wade Davis 1996

  • Ernesto, meanwhile, carefully swept a portion of the dirt floor and fired a large pile of dry cecropia leaves, two varieties known in Cubeo as juakubu and opodokabú.

    One River Wade Davis 1996

  • Close to where I had hung my hammock, Rufino kindled a fire to toast coca while his son reduced cecropia leaves to ash and prepared the mortar and pestle.

    One River Wade Davis 1996

  • Late in the day, just after we had feasted on the fruits of a wild cacao, we came upon a three-toed sloth climbing slowly through the upper branches of a cecropia tree.

    One River Wade Davis 1996

  • Fired at one end, the burning resin tube was inserted into piles of cecropia ash and blown vigorously so that the myrrhlike aroma permeated the ash, thus flavoring the coca.

    One River Wade Davis 1996

Comments

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  • "While the road was shaded by tall palms and cecropia trees, t he slave market itself was held in a large, stone-paved space without the grace of any shade...."

    —Diana Gabaldon, Voyager (NY: Dell, 1994), 830

    January 17, 2010