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

Turnip, tur′nip, n. a biennial plant, with lyrate hispid leaves, the upper part of the root becoming, esp. in cultivation, swollen and fleshy—cultivated as a culinary esculent, and for feeding cattle and sheep.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Leaves: From the root, on long petioles, rounded or heart-shaped, scalloped-edged, often purplish; stem leaves variable, lance-shaped or lyrate, deeply cut, sessile.

From Wild Flowers An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors by Blanchan, Neltje

Vilmorin mentions two varieties; one having entire leaves, the other with lyrate or lobed leaves; giving preference, however, to the one with entire leaves.

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

Rather tall; leaves somewhat fleshy, lyrate or pinnate, the divisions or leaflets crenate or cut-lobed, variable; heads small in a naked corymb; rays 6–12, conspicuous.—Wet grounds, N. Car. to S. Ill.,

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 The Bush Boys History and Adventures of a Cape Farmer and his Family by Reid, Mayne