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cryptophyte

American  
[krip-tuh-fahyt] / ˈkrɪp təˌfaɪt /

noun

  1. Botany. a plant that forms its reproductive structures, as corms or bulbs, underground or underwater.

  2. Biology. cryptomonad.

cryptophyte British  
/ ˌkrɪptəˈfɪtɪk, ˈkrɪptəˌfaɪt /

noun

  1. any perennial plant that bears its buds below the soil or water surface

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • cryptophytic adjective

Etymology

Origin of cryptophyte

First recorded in 1900–05; crypto- + -phyte

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.