carpel Hear it!

carpel definition

car·pel (kär′pəl)

noun

  1. a simple pistil, regarded as a single ovule-bearing leaf or modified leaflike structure
  2. any of the segments of a compound pistil, usually having a single stigma

Etymology: ModL dim. < Gr karpos, fruit: see harvest

Related Forms:

  • carpellary car′·pel·lar′y (-pə ler′ē) adjective
  • carpellate car′·pel·late′ (-pə lāt′) adjective

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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