cotyledon
Americannoun
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the primary or rudimentary leaf of the embryo of seed plants.
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Anatomy. any of several lobules of the placenta.
noun
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a simple embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, which, in some species, forms the first green leaf after germination
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a tuft of villi on the mammalian placenta
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A leaf of the embryo of a seed-bearing plant. Most cotyledons emerge, enlarge, and become green after the seed has germinated. Cotyledons either store food for the growing embryo (as in monocotyledons) or absorb food that has been stored in the endosperm (as in other angiosperms) for eventual distribution to the growing parts of the embryo.
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Also called seed leaf
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See more at eudicotyledon monocotyledon
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of cotyledon
1535–45; < Latin: navelwort < Greek kotylēdṓn a plant (probably navelwort), literally, a cuplike hollow, derivative of kotýlē cup
Vocabulary lists containing cotyledon
Plants (Botany) - Middle School
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Plants (Botany) - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On the shadiest side homed most of the ferns and the Cotyledon.
From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene
Cotyledon umbilicus: circumnutation and downward movement of another stolon, traced on vertical glass, from 9.11 A.M.
From The Power of Movement in Plants by Darwin, Charles
Of these S. caesia, S. calyciflora, S. Cotyledon are among the best known.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various
The instant I deposited my Cotyledon in a safe place I would have put my hand in Peter Morrison's and started around the world if he had asked me to go.
From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene
Cotyledon, a widely distributed genus with about 90 species, is represented in the British Isles by C. Umbilicus, pennywort, or navelwort, which takes its name from the succulent peltate leaves.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6 "Coucy-le-Château" to "Crocodile" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
