Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having erect, clustered, almost parallel branches, as in the Lombardy poplar.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pointed; rising up to a point; narrowed to the top, as a sloping roof; sloping upward to a summit, point, or edge.
  • Specifically—2. In botany, having the branches parallel and erect, as in the Lombardy poplar.
  • 3. In zoology, tapering regularly to a more or less acute apex.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Narrowing towards the top.
  • adjective (Bot.) Clustered, parallel, and upright, as the branches of the Lombardy poplar; pointed.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) United into a conical bundle, or into a bundle with an enlarged head, like a sheaf of wheat.

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

  • adjective botany Erect and parallel
  • adjective botany, horticulture Having closely-bunched erect parallel branches
  • adjective palynology Characterized by a fastigium, a cavity separating the intexine from the sexine near the endoaperture of a colporate pollen grain.
  • adjective obsolete Tapering to a point
  • noun horticulture A tree or shrub with erect, parallel branches.

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

  • adjective having clusters of erect branches (often appearing to form a single column)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Medieval Latin fastīgiātus, high, from Latin fastīgium, apex, height.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin fastigiatus ("peaked"), from fastigium ("peak").

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Examples

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  • fastigiate parallel to peaks: many summoned to summits: related to fastidious: how Pop(u)lar

    January 16, 2007