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

Calyx not minute; pod colored, dehiscent; seeds enclosed in a pulpy aril.

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 Gray, Asa

The fruit is about the size of an ordinary walnut, with a thick rind, which, upon opening, at maturity, discloses a reddish aril covering the nut within.

From The Nut Culturist A Treatise on Propogation, Planting, and Cultivation of Nut Bearing Trees and Shrubs Adapted to the Climate of the United States by Fuller, Andrew S.

The aril is a growth from the extremity of the seed-stalk, or from the placenta when there is no seed-stalk.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa

The two Italian exiles, Carini aril Montanelli, accompanied me.

From The History of a Crime The Testimony of an Eye-Witness by Hugo, Victor

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

Related Words

• chaff
• pod
• rind