"triffid" meaning in English

See triffid in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈtɹɪfɪd/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-triffid.wav [Southern-England] Forms: triffids [plural]
Etymology: Coined by John Wyndham for his 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids, by alteration of the botanical term trifid (“having three lobes”). Etymology templates: {{m|en|trifid||having three lobes}} trifid (“having three lobes”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} triffid (plural triffids)
  1. A fictional plant, able to move around and kill people with a poisonous stinger Translations (a fictional plant): trífid [masculine] (Catalan), triffide [masculine] (French), Triffid [feminine] (German), trifido [masculine] (Italian), трифид (trifid) [masculine] (Serbo-Croatian), trífido [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-triffid-en-noun--4HdrY5j Disambiguation of 'a fictional plant': 97 0 3
  2. (colloquial) Any of the anemones of the genus Aiptasia with poisonous tentacles, which are a pest in aquaria. Tags: colloquial Categories (lifeform): Plants, Sea anemones
    Sense id: en-triffid-en-noun-LalXwxyI Disambiguation of Plants: 29 51 20 Disambiguation of Sea anemones: 8 73 19 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 8 54 38
  3. Any large, fast-growing and hard-to-remove weed, such as the flowering shrub Chromolaena odorata.
    Sense id: en-triffid-en-noun-Aj5JM4HL
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: triffidian, triffidlike

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for triffid meaning in English (5.4kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "triffidian"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "triffidlike"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "trifid",
        "3": "",
        "4": "having three lobes"
      },
      "expansion": "trifid (“having three lobes”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Coined by John Wyndham for his 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids, by alteration of the botanical term trifid (“having three lobes”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "triffids",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "triffid (plural triffids)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003, Allen Paterson, Trees for Your Garden, page 180",
          "text": "But this should not lead to complete avoidance, as if it is like some dire incursion of triffids or ents.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fictional plant, able to move around and kill people with a poisonous stinger"
      ],
      "id": "en-triffid-en-noun--4HdrY5j",
      "links": [
        [
          "plant",
          "plant"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "97 0 3",
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "a fictional plant",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "trífid"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 0 3",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "a fictional plant",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "triffide"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 0 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a fictional plant",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Triffid"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 0 3",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "a fictional plant",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "trifido"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 0 3",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "roman": "trifid",
          "sense": "a fictional plant",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "трифид"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 0 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "a fictional plant",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "trífido"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "8 54 38",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 51 20",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Plants",
          "orig": "en:Plants",
          "parents": [
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 73 19",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Sea anemones",
          "orig": "en:Sea anemones",
          "parents": [
            "Cnidarians",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000 February 8, Silvaa, “betta w/ plant”, in rec.aquaria.marine.misc (Usenet)",
          "text": "The plant is also very rare (related to triffids ... be wary) as it acts like a venus fly trap except it gives its catches to the fish, a truly symbiotic relationship",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 January 5, Jason, “What is this on my rock?”, in rec.aquaria.marine.misc (Usenet)",
          "text": "I too suffer from the dreaded Triffids !!! If you want a safer method of removal : I use boiling hot water and the syringe method.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Tropical Fish Hobbyist",
          "text": "Ironically, these anemones are initially seen as a boon, the hobbyist having received \"something for nothing\" when the first few triffids appear in the nooks and crannies of the live rock.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of the anemones of the genus Aiptasia with poisonous tentacles, which are a pest in aquaria."
      ],
      "id": "en-triffid-en-noun-LalXwxyI",
      "links": [
        [
          "anemone",
          "anemone"
        ],
        [
          "Aiptasia",
          "Aiptasia#Translingual"
        ],
        [
          "tentacle",
          "tentacle"
        ],
        [
          "pest",
          "pest"
        ],
        [
          "aquaria",
          "aquaria"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) Any of the anemones of the genus Aiptasia with poisonous tentacles, which are a pest in aquaria."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1975 March 6, Patrick Ryan, “Top Pop Tomato”, in New Scientist, page 584",
          "text": "Perhaps the BBC could get the Radio 2 King of the Tomatoes to come back and tell us what programmes to play to discourage rampant growth in minor forests of giant bindweed, monster nettles and apprentice triffids.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999, Tim Low, Feral Future: The Untold Story of Australia's Exotic Invaders, University of Chicago Press",
          "text": "But some of them are multiplying fast, and those dismissed as trivial today, because they only infest a few road verges, may well turn into triffids tomorrow.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Toby Buckland, Gardeners' World Practical Gardening Handbook: Traditional Techniques, Expert Skills, Innovative Ideas, Random House",
          "text": "Sow them in late spring in the greenhouse or coldframe, but don't be tempted to sow any earlier otherwise they turn into triffids, hog all your greenhouse space and promote fungal diseases.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any large, fast-growing and hard-to-remove weed, such as the flowering shrub Chromolaena odorata."
      ],
      "id": "en-triffid-en-noun-Aj5JM4HL",
      "links": [
        [
          "weed",
          "weed"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɹɪfɪd/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-triffid.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-triffid.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-triffid.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-triffid.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-triffid.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "The Day of the Triffids (film)"
  ],
  "word": "triffid"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "en:Plants",
    "en:Sea anemones"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "triffidian"
    },
    {
      "word": "triffidlike"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "trifid",
        "3": "",
        "4": "having three lobes"
      },
      "expansion": "trifid (“having three lobes”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Coined by John Wyndham for his 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids, by alteration of the botanical term trifid (“having three lobes”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "triffids",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "triffid (plural triffids)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003, Allen Paterson, Trees for Your Garden, page 180",
          "text": "But this should not lead to complete avoidance, as if it is like some dire incursion of triffids or ents.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fictional plant, able to move around and kill people with a poisonous stinger"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "plant",
          "plant"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000 February 8, Silvaa, “betta w/ plant”, in rec.aquaria.marine.misc (Usenet)",
          "text": "The plant is also very rare (related to triffids ... be wary) as it acts like a venus fly trap except it gives its catches to the fish, a truly symbiotic relationship",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 January 5, Jason, “What is this on my rock?”, in rec.aquaria.marine.misc (Usenet)",
          "text": "I too suffer from the dreaded Triffids !!! If you want a safer method of removal : I use boiling hot water and the syringe method.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Tropical Fish Hobbyist",
          "text": "Ironically, these anemones are initially seen as a boon, the hobbyist having received \"something for nothing\" when the first few triffids appear in the nooks and crannies of the live rock.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of the anemones of the genus Aiptasia with poisonous tentacles, which are a pest in aquaria."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "anemone",
          "anemone"
        ],
        [
          "Aiptasia",
          "Aiptasia#Translingual"
        ],
        [
          "tentacle",
          "tentacle"
        ],
        [
          "pest",
          "pest"
        ],
        [
          "aquaria",
          "aquaria"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) Any of the anemones of the genus Aiptasia with poisonous tentacles, which are a pest in aquaria."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries using missing taxonomic name (species)"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1975 March 6, Patrick Ryan, “Top Pop Tomato”, in New Scientist, page 584",
          "text": "Perhaps the BBC could get the Radio 2 King of the Tomatoes to come back and tell us what programmes to play to discourage rampant growth in minor forests of giant bindweed, monster nettles and apprentice triffids.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999, Tim Low, Feral Future: The Untold Story of Australia's Exotic Invaders, University of Chicago Press",
          "text": "But some of them are multiplying fast, and those dismissed as trivial today, because they only infest a few road verges, may well turn into triffids tomorrow.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Toby Buckland, Gardeners' World Practical Gardening Handbook: Traditional Techniques, Expert Skills, Innovative Ideas, Random House",
          "text": "Sow them in late spring in the greenhouse or coldframe, but don't be tempted to sow any earlier otherwise they turn into triffids, hog all your greenhouse space and promote fungal diseases.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any large, fast-growing and hard-to-remove weed, such as the flowering shrub Chromolaena odorata."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "weed",
          "weed"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɹɪfɪd/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-triffid.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-triffid.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-triffid.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-triffid.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-triffid.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "a fictional plant",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "trífid"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "a fictional plant",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "triffide"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a fictional plant",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Triffid"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "a fictional plant",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "trifido"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "roman": "trifid",
      "sense": "a fictional plant",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "трифид"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "a fictional plant",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "trífido"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "The Day of the Triffids (film)"
  ],
  "word": "triffid"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-24 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (82c8ff9 and f4967a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.