a coniferous tree, Cryptomeria japonica, of China and Japan, with curved needle-like leaves and small round cones: family Taxodiaceae
Word origin
C19: from New Latin, from crypto- + Greek meros part; so called because the seeds are hidden by scales
cryptomeria in American English
(ˌkrɪptoʊˈmɪriə; ˌkrɪptəˈmɪriə)
noun
a tall, cone-bearing Asiatic tree (Cryptomeria japonica) of the baldcypress family; Japanese cedar
Word origin
ModL < Gr kryptos, hidden (see crypt) + meros, a part (see merit) + ModL -ia (see -ia): so named because the seeds are “hidden” within the scales of the cones
Examples of 'cryptomeria' in a sentence
cryptomeria
Someone was on them, running upward, and he changed direction again, paralleling them, keeping to the shadows of the cryptomeria.