‖ Diœcia Bot.
(daɪˈiːʃɪə)
[mod.L. (Linnæus 1735), a. Gr. type *διοικία, abstr. n. from *δίοικος having two houses, f. δι-, (di-2) twice + οἶκος house. Cf. Monœcia.]
The twenty-second class in the Sexual System of Linnæus, comprising plants which have male (staminiferous) and female (pistilliferous) flowers on separate individuals.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Dioecia, in Botany, a class of plants which have the male and female parts..in different flowers, and..on different plants of the same species. Among the plants of this class are the willow, mistletoe, hemp, spinach. 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. ix. 96. |
Hence diˈœcian a. = diœcious.
| 1828 Webster, Diecian. |