Divaricate

[imp. & p. p. DIVARICATED; p. pr. & vb. n. DIVARICATING.] [Lat. divaricare, divaricatum, from prefix di, for dis, and varicare, to spread the legs apart, to straddle, from varicus, straddling, from varus, bent, stretched outward.]

1Sense 1. To part into two branches; to open; to fork. Woodward.

2Sense 2. (Bot.) To diverge widely; to spread asunder at an obtuse angle;—said of the branches of plants.

To divide into two branches; to cause to branch apart. Warburton.

[Lat. divaricatus, p. p. of divaricare; Fr. divariqué, Sp. divaricado. See supra.] (Bot.) Turning off at a very large angle, as a right angle or more, with the axis of growth; widely divergent.