Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A member of a formerly recognized taxonomic group that included all seedless plants and plantlike organisms, such as mosses, algae, ferns, lichens, and fungi.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A cryptogamous plant; a plant of the class Cryptogamia.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) A plant belonging to the Cryptogamia.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A member of a former
taxonomic group ofplants that reproduce usingspores , such asferns ,mosses ,algae ,fungi ,lichens orliverworts .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun formerly recognized taxonomic group including all flowerless and seedless plants that reproduce by means of spores: ferns, mosses, algae, fungi
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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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).
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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.
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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 2009
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Terror of the noonstruck by day, cryptogam of each nightly bridable.
Finnegans Wake 2006
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Gemiasmas produce ague, it is by no means proved that no other cryptogam may not produce malaria.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 385, May 19, 1883 Various
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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.
Diseases of the Horse's Foot Harry Caulton Reeks
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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.
Life: Its True Genesis R. W. Wright
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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.
Life: Its True Genesis R. W. Wright
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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.
Romance Two Lectures Walter Alexander Raleigh 1891
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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.
Wanderings by southern waters, eastern Aquitaine Edward Harrison Barker 1885
sarra commented on the word cryptogam
not a typographical slip for cryptogram. Gr. kryptos, hidden + gamos, marriage — one whose reproduction is mysterious: a flowerless, seedless plant.
February 28, 2007
seanahan commented on the word cryptogam
The gam here is the same as gamete.
February 28, 2007
reesetee commented on the word cryptogam
Great word, sarra! Thanks.
February 28, 2007
tankhughes commented on the word cryptogam
Spoiler alert, because the ad said cryptograms and not cryptograms, we got a seaweed expert working on the Enigma Code and it ultimately helped. https://youtu.be/N8jeYeWz-NM
January 26, 2024