Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various plants of the genus Croton, which includes the sources of cascarilla bark and croton oil.
  • noun A closely related Old World tropical evergreen shrub (Codiaeum variegatum) widely cultivated as a houseplant for its glossy multicolored foliage.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of various plants, of the genus Croton, that yield croton oil.
  • noun A tropical evergreen shrub, Codiaeum variegatum, having glossy foliage, cultivated as a houseplant.
  • noun New York City, historical The main water supply pipe to a building or apartment, from the Croton River, dams, reservoirs and aqueduct supplying New York City with water.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin Croton, genus name, from Greek krotōn, castor oil plant, from krotōn, tick, sheep tick (the seeds of the castor-oil plant having a ticklike appearance).]

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