Definition of "cypress" [cy•press]

• Any of various evergreen trees or shrubs of the genus Cupressus, native to Eurasia and North America and having opposite, scalelike leaves and globose woody cones. (noun)
• Any of several similar or related coniferous trees, such as the bald cypress. (noun)
• The wood of any of these trees. (noun)
• Cypress branches used as a symbol of mourning. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "† Some Bible translations use the term cypress or cedar wood, a softwood from a coniferous tree."
• "And the Christian men, that dwell beyond the sea, in Greece, say that the tree of the cross, that we call cypress, was of that tree that Adam ate the apple off; and that find they written."
• "Standing cypress is very similar but more wildflower-esque and doesn’t spread rapidly like the vine (an annual but it seeds profusely)."