cactus
/ˈkæktəs/noun, adjective
A spiny succulent plant of the Cactaceae family
From Greek κάκτος (Cardoon).
Lineage
GreekLatinGermanicOthernot directly attested
Selected stage
Modern English
cactus — A spiny succulent plant of the Cactaceae family
The story
A cactus is a spiny succulent, but its name began with a different prickly plant. Ancient Greek κάκτος (káktos) referred to the cardoon, and Greek writers including Theophrastus recorded the word; its still earlier origin is uncertain, perhaps Pre-Greek. Latin borrowed the Greek word as cactus. In 1752 Linnaeus gave the taxonomic name Cactus to a genus of cacti, and English cactus came through that botanical name. The genus name was later superseded by Mammillaria, while cactus remained the familiar name for plants in the family Cactaceae.