lyrate

American  

[lahy-reyt, -rit] / ˈlaɪ reɪt, -rɪt /

Also lyrated

adjective

1. Botany. (of a pinnate leaf ) divided transversely into several lobes, the smallest at the base.

2. Zoology. having the shape of a lyre, as the tail of certain birds.

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lyrate British  

/ ˈlaɪərɪt /

adjective

1. shaped like a lyre

2. (of leaves) having a large terminal lobe and smaller lateral lobes

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Other Word Forms

• lyrately adverb

Etymology

Origin of lyrate

From the New Latin word lyrātus, dating back to 1750–60. See lyre, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Seed erect; radicle inferior.—Perennial herbs, with pinnate or lyrate leaves.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

The leaves of this species are six inches long, pale yellowish-green, lyrate, with obtuse and entire divisions: when fully developed, they somewhat resemble those of the oak, as implied by the name.

From The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Containing Full Descriptions of Nearly Eleven Hundred Species and Varietes; With Directions for Propagation, Culture and Use. by Burr, Fearing

A little farther on a ruddy antelope, with lyrate horns, leaped out of the bush before them and dashed off towards the river before Blake could string his bow.

From Into the Primitive by Bennett, Robert Ames

Embryo straight! or the short radicle only slightly bent in the direction which if continued would make the orbicular cotyledons accumbent.—Little winter annuals, glabrous and often stemless, with lyrate leaves and short 1–few-flowered scape-like peduncles.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Below his knees were yellowish tufts of long hair; and his horns—instead of being lyrate, like those of the springbok—rose nearly vertical to the height of four inches.

From Popular Adventure Tales by Reid, Mayne