EQ'UITANT, adjective [Latin equitans, equito, to ride, from eques, a horseman, or equus, a horse.] In botany, riding, as equitant leaves: a term of leafing or foliation, when two opposite leaves converge so with their edges, that one incloses the other; or when the inner leaves are inclosed by the outer ones.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI