ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈdā(ˌ)lēz noun plural
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from Cycad-, Cycas + -ales
: an order of gymnospermous plants abundant in the Mesozoic but now reduced to a few localized and widely scattered tropical forms that have an unbranched trunk which is tall and arborescent or squat and tuberous with a large pith and starchy cortex and that bears a terminal crown of long pinnate leaves together with one or more very large cones — see cycadaceae