Bot. [f. mod.L. acotylēdones, f. Gr. ἀ without + κοτυληδών a cup-shaped hollow, also the plant Navel-wort, and in mod. Bot. a seed-lobe, f. κοτύλη a hollow, cup. It provides a sing. for the L. word, which is often retained unchanged in the pl.] A plant that has no distinct cotyledons, or seed-lobes; as a fern, moss, fungus or seaweed.
1819. Pantologia, I. s.v., The distinction of vegetables into acotyledons, monocotyledons, dicotyledons … has been long made, and is the basis of Jussieu’s natural arrangement.
1850. McCosh, Div. Govt., II. i. 119 (1874). Acotyledons, without seed-lobes, such as lichens and fungi.
