Words / E / General

epiphyte

noun/ˈɛpɪfʌɪt/

C2CEFR level
80/100Rarity: very rare
TechnicalRegister

A plant that grows on another plant for support without drawing nutrients from it.

Orchids and bromeliads cling to the rainforest boughs as epiphytes, roots dangling in the air.

Similar: air-plant

Origin: from Greek epi 'upon' and phyton 'plant'

Topic: botany in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

Get words like epiphyte on your lock screen, a few a day, with review that makes them stick.

Download on the App Store Lexfall puts a new word on your home and lock screen through widgets, so you learn without opening an app. Free to download. After a free trial, a subscription unlocks every field. Built for iPhone, iOS 15.1 or later.
QR code that opens Lexfall on the App Store
On a computer?Scan with your iPhone camera.

More general words: botany