Xiphophyllous

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing a plant whose leaves are shaped like a sword, long and tapering to a point
2. Bearing leaves that are narrow, straight and pointed like the blade of a sword
3. Characterized by sword-like foliage, with long, flat, sharply pointed leaves

Etymology: "Xiphophyllous" is a botanical adjective describing leaves that are sword-shaped, long and tapering to a point like a blade. It is built from two Greek elements. The first, "xipho-", comes from "xiphos", the Greek word for a short sword or blade, and it appears in many scientific coinages where a sharp, sword-like form is being described. The second, "-phyllous", comes from "phullon", meaning leaf, and is the same ending found in words such as "monophyllous" (one-leaved) and "polyphyllous" (many-leaved). Put together, the word is a straightforward descriptive compound: a leaf that looks like a sword. Like most such terms, it was formed deliberately by plant scientists who needed a precise label for a leaf shape, drawing on classical Greek rather than inheriting the word from ancient speakers.

Synonyms: ensiform