: any of the chiefly tropical American usually epiphytic plants comprising the pineapple family and including Spanish moss and various ornamentals

Examples of bromeliad in a Sentence

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My bromeliads with red centers of foliage have produced offshoots. Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2026 Neoregelia is the most diverse and colorful of all the bromeliad genera. Clarence Schmidt, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Aug. 2026 In parts of Florida, some plants, like ornamental bromeliads, collect water in the cups of their leaves, allowing mosquitoes to breed several feet above the ground. Angela Haupt, Time, 3 Aug. 2026 Later, after a half-day tour to the nearby towns of Lampa and Pucará, the team made magic again, with a lunch in a forest of towering Puya raimondii, otherworldly bromeliads with thorns like piranha teeth. Chris Schalkx, Travel + Leisure, 4 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for bromeliad

Word History

Etymology

New Latin Bromelia, genus of tropical American plants, from Olaf Bromelius †1705 Swedish botanist

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bromeliad was in 1866

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Cite this Entry

“Bromeliad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bromeliad. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

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