A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

meniscoidalis,-e (adj.B), meniscoideus,-a,-um (adj.A): “thin and concavo-convex” (Fernald 1950); thin and concavo-convex, like a watch-glass; concave on one side, convex on the other [> Gk. mEniscos (s.m.II), the lunar crescent]; see discoid, lenticular, biconvex, patelliform;

- [Menispermaceae] semen meniscoideum v. rarius oblongum, albuminosum.(B&H), the seed meniscoid or more rarely oblong, full of albumen.

Menispermum L., Moonseed. “name > Gk. mEn (mEnE (s.f.I), the moon, + sperma, seed; cf. L. menis,-idis (s.f.III) = Gk. mEnis, a little half-moon, a crescent “placed as an ornament at the beginning of books: a prima menide libri, i.e. from the beginning” (Lewis & Short).

NOTE: Lewis and Short indicate that in Latin Menis,-idis (s.f.III) = Gk. MEnis = ‘a little half-moon.’ However in Greek MEnis,-idis has to do with ‘wrath, a revengeful temper.’