| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| decussate |
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| SYLLABICATION: | de·cus·sate |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  d -k s  t , d k -st |
| TRANSITIVE & INTRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: de·cus·sat·ed, de·cus·sat·ing, de·cus·sates
To cross or become crossed so as to form an X; intersect. | | ADJECTIVE: | 1. Intersected or crossed in the form of an X. 2. Botany Arranged on a stem in opposite pairs at right angles to those above or below, resulting in four vertical rows: decussate leaves. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin decussre, decusst-, from decussis, the number ten, intersection of two lines (from the Romans' use of X for the numeral 10), a ten-as coin : decem, ten; see dek in Appendix I + assis, as (coin). | | OTHER FORMS: | de·cussately —ADVERB
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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