cruciferous
Americanadjective
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bearing a cross.
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Botany. belonging to the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae), the mustard family of plants; brassicaceous.
Are you getting enough broccoli, cauliflower, and other cruciferous vegetables in your diet?
adjective
Etymology
Origin of cruciferous
From Late Latin crucifer + -ous; cruciferous def. 1 was first recorded in 1650–60; cruciferous def. 2 in 1850–55; crucifer, -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The broccoli rabe was turned into a kind of cruciferous pesto.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 26, 2025
In this case, if you look at all of the observational research on cruciferous vegetables and colon cancer, it appears that people who eat more of the veggies have less cancer.
From Slate • Sep. 5, 2025
Root vegetables — like carrots, onions, potatoes and beets — winter squashes, cruciferous vegetables and greens are just a few notable cold-weather favorites.
From Salon • Feb. 23, 2024
This included 11 studies of soy isoflavones, three of cruciferous vegetables, two of green tea, three of lignans, and three of enterolactone, which is formed in the gut when lignans are digested.
From Science Daily • Jan. 10, 2024
He has a cruciferous nimbus, and is blessing with the right hand, whilst with the left He holds an open book inscribed "Ego svm lvx vera."
From The Shores of the Adriatic The Austrian Side, The Küstenlande, Istria, and Dalmatia by Jackson, F. Hamilton (Frederick Hamilton)
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.