Dictionary English: Furciferous

Dictionary English: Furciferous:
furciferous - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :


Furciferous \Fur*cif"er*ous\, a. [L. furcifer yoke bearer,
scoundrel; furca fork, yoke, fork-shaped instrument of
punishment + ferre to bear.]
Rascally; scandalous. [R.] "Furciferous knaves." --De
Quincey.
[1913 Webster]

In entomology, bearing a forked appendage or organ. Applied to certain lepidopterous larvæ which have, on the first segment behind the head, a forked tube, called the osmeteria, or scent organ, from which the insect can protrude slender threads, for the purpose, it is supposed, of frightening away ichneumons.