different between cactus vs ocotillo

English

Etymology

From Latin cactus, from Ancient Greek ?????? (káktos, “cardoon”), possibly of pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kækt?s/, /?kækt?s/

Noun

cactus (plural cacti or cactuses or cactusses or cactus)

1. (botany) Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
2. Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.

Usage notes

In modern English, the term cactus properly refers to plants belonging to the family Cactaceae. With one exception, all are native to the New World (the Americas). The sole exception is Rhipsalis, a jungle epiphyte found in tropical Africa, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka, as well as North and South America. Informally, cactus is used to refer to any stem succulent adapted to a dry climate, notably species from genus Euphorbia with forms reminiscent of Cactaceae. These succulents are better described as "cactoid" or "cactiform" unless they are actual members of the Cactaceae.

Hypernyms

• (member of Cactaceae): succulent

Hyponyms

• (member of Cactaceae): nopal, saguaro

Derived terms

Related terms

• cactaceous
• cactal
• cactoid
• cactiform

Descendants

• ? Welsh: cactws

Translations

Adjective

cactus (not comparable)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Non-functional, broken, exhausted, dead.
   • 2018"Fractured", Wentworth

     Michael Armstrong: "Michael Armstrong, I represent Sonia Stevens."
     Sue "Boomer" Jenkins: "Oh, haven't you heard? She cactus."
     Armstrong "Yes, I realize that, and that's a terrible business.

Related terms

• cactused

See also

• succulent
• Cactus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Cactaceae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Asturian

Noun

cactus m (plural cactus)

1. (botany) cactus (member of the Cactaceae)

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?kak.tus/

Noun

cactus m (plural cactus)

1. (botany) cactus (member of the Cactaceae)

Further reading

• “cactus” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “cactus” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “cactus” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “cactus” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Alternative forms

• kaktus (superseded)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cactus, from Ancient Greek ?????? (káktos, “cardoon”), of pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?k.t?s/
• Hyphenation: cac?tus

Noun

cactus m (plural cactussen, diminutive cactusje n)

1. cactus, plant of the family Cactaceae

   Synonym: cactee

Derived terms

• cactusvijg
• lidcactus
• orgelpijpcactus
• vijgcactus

Descendants

• Afrikaans: kaktus

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kak.tys/

Noun

cactus m (plural cactus)

1. cactus

Further reading

• “cactus” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Noun

cactus m (invariable)

1. cactus

Anagrams

• stucca

Further reading

• cactus in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ?????? (káktos, “cardoon”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?kak.tus/, [?käkt??s?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?kak.tus/, [?k?kt?us]

Noun

cactus m (genitive cact?); second declension

1. the cardoon, Cynara cardunculus

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Descendants

• Translingual: Cactus
• ? English: cactus
• ? German: Kaktus

References

• cactus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cactus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Romanian

Etymology

From French cactus

Noun

cactus m (plural cactu?i)

1. cactus

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From translingual Cactus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?tus/, [?ka??.t?us]
• Hyphenation: cac?tus

Noun

cactus m (plural cactus)

1. Alternative form of cacto

References

English

Wikispecies

Etymology

From American Spanish ocotillo, from ocote.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??k??t?l??/, /??k??ti?(j)??/

Noun

ocotillo (plural ocotillos)

1. Any of various succulent plants unrelated to the cactus, in the genus Fouquieria, especially Fouquieria splendens, living in Central America or the southwest United States.
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 731:

     It had rained in the night, and some of the ocotillo fences had sprouted some green.

Synonyms

• boojum tree, coachwhip, Jacob's staff, vine cactus

Spanish

Etymology

From ocote + -illo.

Pronunciation

Noun

ocotillo m (plural ocotillos)

1. (Mexico) ocotillo