aril

American  

[ar-il] / ˈær ɪl /

noun

Botany.

1. a usually fleshy appendage or covering of certain seeds, as of the bittersweet, Celastrus scandens, or the nutmeg.

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aril British  

/ ˈærɪl /

noun

1. an appendage on certain seeds, such as those of the yew and nutmeg, developed from or near the funicle of the ovule and often brightly coloured and fleshy

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aril Scientific  

/ ăr′əl /

1. A fleshy seed cover which arises from the funiculus (the stalk of the ovule). Arils, such the red berry-like arils of the yew, are often brightly colored to attract animals who eat them and disperse the seeds. The spice mace is the aril of the nutmeg seed.

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Other Word Forms

• arillate
  adjective
• arilloid
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of aril

1785–95; < New Latin arillus; Medieval Latin: grape seed, probably erroneously for armillus, with same sense; compare Upper Italian dialect armella, arma kernel, pit of a fruit, Italian animella edible insides of an animal < Latin anima literally, spirit (hence, the insides of a thing), with -illa diminutive suffix; see anima

Example Sentences

The aril which surrounds the seed and the roots of Sapindus Saponaria, an evergreen tree, I have seen used as soap in South America and the West Indies under the name of soap berries.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

The seeds are edible, and the blue, pulpy aril surrounding them yields an essential oil.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William

Pistillate solitary; ovary, 3 locules and numerous ovules; stigma, 3 bifid divisions; fruit globose, narrowing at the ends, covered with tubercles; seeds numerous, lacking albumen, having red aril.

From The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Thomas, Jerome Beers

And think of what else he says of it: ‘Ovary ovoid, stigma sessile, undulate, seeds covering the lateral placenta, each enclosed in an aril.’

From Some Spring Days in Iowa by Lazell, Frederick John

Seed vessel pyramidal, containing many seeds enveloped in an elastic aril by which they are ejected when the fruit opens.

From The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Thomas, Jerome Beers

Related Words

• chaff
• pod
• rind