falciferous

F4A1L1C3I1F4E1R1O1U1S1
UK/fælˈsɪfəɹəs/

adjective

Sickle-bearing.

Scrabble 19

Meanings

adjectivefalciferous (not comparable)
  1. not comparablerareSickle-bearing.

    A[stragalus] falciferous Hult.

    1946, Iowa State College Journal of Science, volume 21, Iowa State College Press, page 400
    5 more examples

    The stinted growth of the stationary Conchifera forms a striking contrast with the size and number of the Cephalopoda interred with them in the same bed; in fact the dawning existence of these Conchifera appears to have been a struggle for life, whilst the conditions of the closing scene of the Belemnites, Nautili, and falciferous Ammonites, were favourable to their continuance in time, but abruptly brought to a termination by some great physical change which took place about the commencement of the deposition of the oolitic formations.

    1856, The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, volume 12, page 306

    The third group is continued into the sands which cap the upper lias, and into strata a little above them, which constitute the lower part of the inferior oolite of Dundry. Even in the Stonesfield slate we find falciferous ammonites.

    1871, John Phillips, Geology of Oxford and the Valley of the Thames, Clarendon Press, page 132

    More or less falciferous — that is, united to t’ shaft by an arched web-like expansion. Separate or webbed together umbrella-like.

    1875, The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Zoology, Botany, and Geology, page 33

    This form of suture is seen even in the falciferous Ammonites of the Cretaceous, which can scarcely perhaps, be genetically connected with […]

    1895, Geologists’ Association, Proceedings, volume 13, page 37

    […] (oblong scale), abundant throughout the south and especially in the Gironde region; Pulvinaria vitis (red scale) and Pseudococcus (Dactylopius) vitis (white scale) foung throughout the Mediterranean basin; Eulecanium (Lecanium) corni, found only in the north; Aulacaspis (Diaspis) pentagona; and the falciferous scale [Rhizoecus falcifer, Künek.] which lives on the roots.

    1920: Imperial Bureau of Entomology, The Review of Applied Entomology: Agricultural, volume VIII, page 212 (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux)

Origin

From Latin falx (“sickle”) + -i- + -ferous (“-bearing”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with falciferous

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Cite this entry
APA

falciferous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/falciferous

MLA

“falciferous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/falciferous. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “falciferous,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/falciferous.

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