Bot. [ad. mod.L. generic name Cycas, -adis, a. supposed Gr. κύκας found in old edd. of Theophrastus, but now known to be a scribal error for κόϊκας acc. pl. of κόϊξ, the Egyptian doum-palm: see Liddell and Scott.]
A plant of the genus Cycas which gives its name to the Cycadaceæ, a natural order of Gymnosperms, related to the Conifers, but in appearance resembling palms, and having affinity with tree-ferns.
1845. Lindley, Veg. Kingd. (1853), 224. The near relation of conifers and cycads.
1883. Sunday Mag., 547/1. Her Majesty planted in the gardens … a splendid Chinese cycad.
