dioecious

D2I1O1E1C3I1O1U1S1
/daɪ̯ˈiːʃəs/

adjective

Having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants (of the same species) rather than different parts of the same plant.

UncommonScrabble 12

Meanings

adjectivedioecious (not comparable)

alternative diaecious · alternative diœcious · alternative dioicous

  1. not comparablebiologyHaving the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants (of the same species) rather than different parts of the same plant.
    1 more example

    Most plants are hermaphrodite, even if some of them (hazel, for example) keep their male and female flowers apart. But some plants are dioecious, i.e. they have separate sexes. Some of our most familiar wild plants, such as nettle and red campion, are dioecious. If your holly never has any berries, that's probably because it's a male.

    2014 December 12, Ken Thompson, “Do plants have a gender? Most plants are hermaphrodite, but not all – and an interesting situation arises when only one sex is imported into the UK [print version: Alien plant species in search of a mate: Although most plants are hermaphrodite, some come in two distinct genders. So how does a single-sex community develop?, p. W28]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Weekend)
  2. not comparablerarebiologyHaving two distinct sexes.

    Synonyms: gonochoristic

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveHaving two distinct sexes.

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivehaving male and female reproductive organs in separate plants or animals

Similar
Opposite
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Catalan dioic
  • dioicbotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Chinese Mandarin 雌雄異株 /雌雄异株
  • 雌雄異株 /雌雄异株botany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Czech dvoudomý
  • dvoudomýbotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Finnish kaksikotinen
  • kaksikotinenbotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
French dioïque
  • dioïquebotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
German diözisch, zweihäusig
  • diözischbotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
  • zweihäusigbotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
  • getrenntgeschlechtigbotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Hebrew דו־ביתי
  • דו־ביתי (du-beiti)botany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Hindi एकलिंगाश्रयी
  • एकलिंगाश्रयी (ekliṅgāśrayī)botany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Hungarian kétlaki
  • kétlakibotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Norwegian Bokmål tvebo, tvebu
  • tvebobotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
  • tvebubotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Portuguese dioico
  • dioicobotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Russian двудо́мный
  • двудо́мный (dvudómnyj)botany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Ukrainian дводо́мний
  • дводо́мний (dvodómnyj)botany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Vietnamese biệt chu
  • biệt chubotany: having the male and female reproductive organs on separate plants
Cite this entry
APA

dioecious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dioecious

MLA

“dioecious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dioecious. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dioecious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dioecious.

Source: dioecious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.