Standard Lemma guide

bryophyte

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • UK: /ˈbɹʌɪ̯.əˌfʌɪt/
  • Canada, US: /ˈbɹaɪ̯.əˌfaɪt/

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any plant of the division Bryophyta, defined sensu lato to comprise the mosses, liverworts and hornworts and corresponding to all embryophytes that are not vascular plants.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

Examples

  • 2002, William R. Buck, Bryophytes, entry in Niles Eldredge (editor), Life on Earth, page 202, Because of their small size and often delicate structure, bryophytes have a poor fossil record, dating back only about 290 million years.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: embryophyte, plant, organism

2

noun

Meaning 2

any of numerous plants of the division Bryophyta

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nonvascular plant

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: nonvascular organism

Narrower terms: moss, liverwort, hepatic

History

Etymology

Borrowed from translingual Bryophyta, from Ancient Greek βρύον (brúon, “moss”) + φυτόν (phutón, “plant”) ( + -phyte).

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: мъх (mǎh) — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Esperanto: briofito — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Esperanto: muskoplanto — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Estonian: sammal — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Estonian: sammaltaim — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Finnish: sammalkasvi — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Finnish: sammal — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • French: bryophyte — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • German: Moos — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Greek: βρύο (vrýo) — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Polish: mszak — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Portuguese: briófita — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Romanian: briofită — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Spanish: briofita — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Spanish: briófito — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Spanish: briofito — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Swedish: mossa — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Tagalog: lumutan — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort
  • Welsh: bryoffyt — member of the Bryophyta; moss, liverwort, or hornwort