Jump To:

• samara
  samara

  noun

  an indehiscent, usually one-seeded, winged fruit, as of the elm or maple.
• Samara
  Samara

  noun

  a port in the SE Russian Federation in Europe, on the Volga.

samara

¹ American  

[sam-er-uh, suh-mair-uh] / ˈsæm ər ə, səˈmɛər ə /

noun

Botany.

1. an indehiscent, usually one-seeded, winged fruit, as of the elm or maple.

---

Samara ² American  

[suh-mahr-uh, suh-mah-ruh] / səˈmɑr ə, sʌˈmɑ rə /

noun

1. a port in the SE Russian Federation in Europe, on the Volga.

---

samara ¹ British  

/ ˈsæmərə, səˈmɑːrə /

noun

1. Also called: key fruit. a dry indehiscent one-seeded fruit with a winglike extension to aid dispersal: occurs in the ash, maple, etc

---

Samara ² British  

/ saˈmarə /

noun

1. Former name (1935–91): Kuibyshev, Kuybyshev. a port in SW Russia, on the River Volga: centre of an important industrial complex; oil refining. Pop: 1 140 000 (2005 est)

---

samara Scientific  

/ săm′ər-ə /

1. An achene (a dry, one-seeded fruit) in which the pericarp is modified into a winglike structure adapted for airborne dispersal. The seeds of the ash, elm, and maple are contained in samaras.

---

Etymology

Origin of samara

1570–80; < New Latin; Latin samara, samera elm seed

---

Explanation

A samara is a tree fruit that has wings and usually just one seed. You may have seen samaras spinning through the air after falling from trees, which is why they are sometimes called helicopter seeds. People call samaras lots of different things, including keys, wingnuts, and whirlybirds. The name samara comes from the Latin for "elm seed," but some other trees that produce samaras are maple, ash, and sycamore trees. When a samara gets blown off a tree, it spins away through the air on its thin wings. This allows the seed to be dispersed far from its parent tree, where it has a better chance of growing into a new tree.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

samara Samara

Acorns and winged maple keys, whose scientific name is a samara, are also fruit.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013

Characteristics of the Tree: Height, 40'-60'; diameter, 12"-18"; small, slim, upright branches; bark, brown or ashy, great, shallow, longitudinal furrows; leaves, 10"-12" long, pinnately compound, 7 to 9 leaflets, covered with down; fruit, single samara.

From Wood and Forest by William Noyes

Fruit a 1-celled and 1-seeded membranaceous samara, winged all around.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray

They would run swiftly out upon the ends of the small branches, reach out for the maple keys, snip off the wings, and deftly slip the nut or samara into their cheek pockets.

From Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers by John Burroughs

Acerineæ, in Sapindaceæ, 115 Fruit a 1-celled and 1-seeded samara or a drupe.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray

“The S&P 500 rose to a fresh record high, supported by optimism around AI-related spending,” CBA’s Samara Hammoud says in a research report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Higher crude prices amid ongoing geopolitical risks have supported the dollar, CBA’s Samara Hammoud says in a research report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

The overnight strikes comes a day after Ozon's site in the Samara region was hit.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

The strike came a day after an Ozon centre in the neighbouring Samara region was hit.

From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026

It is inaugurated by the magnificent iron bridge which spans the Volga at Samara in East Russia.

From Russia As Seen and Described by Famous Writers by Esther Singleton

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---