multifid, a. Bot. and Zool.
(ˈmʌltɪfɪd)
[ad. L. multifid-us, f. multus multi- + fid-, stem of findĕre to cleave.]
Having many divisions; cleft or divided into many parts. Also Comb.
| 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 23 The short and multifid-tailed monoculus. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. ii. xxxi. (1765) 153 Cucurbica, with multifid Leaves. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. I. App. 359 The lubricous, multifid, and constantly moving organs. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. viii. 471 A simple, bifid, or multifid fold of the integument. |
Hence ˈmultifidly adv., with multifid divisions.
| 1840 Paxton Bot. Dict., Multifidly-pinnatifid; a leaf is so called when it is pinnately-lobed, and these lobes are again divided into many parts. 1857 Moore's Handbk. Brit. Ferns (ed. 3) 187 The rachis bifidly or multifidly divided towards the apex. |