multifidadj.
/ˈmʌltɪfɪd/, U.S. /ˈməltiˌfɪd/; see also multi- comb. form. Botany and Zoology.
Divided into several or many parts by deep clefts or notches.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > [adjective] > divided into several parts
multipartite1656
multifid1731
polychotomous1858
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > physical arrangement or condition > [adjective] > composed of many parts > divided into lobes > divided into four or more lobes
quadrifid1661
multifid1731
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Amaranthus The Cup of the Flower is dry and multifid.
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 23 The short and multifid-tailed monoculus.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. ii. xxxi. 150 Cucurbita, with multifid Leaves.
1835 W. Kirby On Power of God in Creation of Animals I. 359 The lubricous, multifid, and constantly moving organs.
1877 T. H. Huxley Man. Anat. Invertebrated Animals viii. 471 A simple, bifid, or multifid fold of the integument.
1932 Ann. Missouri Bot. Garden 19 77 These characters were considered to be generically distinct from the multifid calyx.
1988 Jrnl. Cell Biol. 107 761a The Golgi stacks of snail multifid gland secretory cells are distinctive.
Derivatives
ˈmultifidly adv. rare with multifid divisions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > [adverb] > with several divisions
multifidly1840
1840 J. Paxton Pocket Bot. Dict. Multifidly-pinnatifid; a leaf is so called when it is pinnately-lobed, and these lobes are again divided into many parts.
1857 T. Moore Handbk. Brit. Ferns (ed. 3) 187 The rachis bifidly or multifidly divided towards the apex.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1731