n. pl. phil·o·den·drons or phil·o·den·dra (-drə) Any of various climbing tropical American plants of the genus Philodendron, many of which are cultivated as houseplants. [New Latin Philodendron, genus name, from Greek, neuter of philodendros, fond of trees (from the fact that in its tropical American habitat it twines around trees) : philo-, philo- + dendron, tree; see deru- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] ![]() (click for a larger image) philodendronPhilodendron sp. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.