Multifidous

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Divided into numerous separate parts, branches or lobes, as with a leaf or organ that is split into many segments
2. Having many deep divisions or clefts, so that the outline is broken into a number of distinct sections
3. Cleft or split into many portions, a term often used of botanical structures with numerous narrow lobes

Etymology: "Multifidous" describes something split into many narrow parts, like a leaf cut into numerous thin segments or a root that divides again and again. Its Latin source, "multifidus," is built from "multi-," meaning "many," and "-fidus," a form tied to "findere," the Latin verb "to split" or "to cleave." The same "findere" root gives English "fissure" and "fissile," so the word belongs to a family of terms all about breaking something apart. English took the word in its Latin-derived form and added the "-ous" ending of adjectives, after the botanical term "multifid" had already been used to describe lobed structures. The result is a precise technical adjective, most at home in botany and zoology, where it names organs or features divided into many lobes or segments rather than merely looking messy or complicated.

Synonyms: multifarious, diverse

Antonyms: uniform, homogeneous