Deciduous / adjective / de·​cid·​u·​ous

Did you know there was a name for the trees that lose their leaves? Deciduous trees are seasonally adaptive and follow a lifecycle based on seasons. Deciduous is an adjective that describes the behavior of trees in nature. The trees that lose their leaves each year and regrow them with the seasons are called deciduous.

Informal use of deciduous describes the baby teeth of mammals that are eventually lost and replaced with permanent adult teeth. We also use deciduous as a biological term that represents natural life cycles and things that are fleeting or ephemeral in society and in nature.

In a Sentence

They knew it was time for the seasons to change when the deciduous trees on their property began shedding their leaves.

The hardware store in the country sold the most rakes at the beginning of autumn when the deciduous leaves began covering the ground.

Biologists say the trees that shed their leaves seasonally have deciduous parts that will reproduce the following season.

Etymology

Deciduous is a Latin word meaning "to fall off by chance." The word has been used in our language since 1657, and it has maintained its original meaning. In English, the word is most commonly used in biology in relation to trees that shed their leaves annually. Deciduous represents changes in nature that ebb and flow with the seasons. It can also depict other events that last a short time or behave in a cyclical manner.

Synonym

Ephemeral, Fleeting

Antonym

Immortal, Lasting