bract
[ brakt ]
/ brækt /
noun Botany.
a specialized leaf or leaflike part, usually situated at the base of a flower or inflorescence.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- brackett series,
- brackish,
- bracknell,
- bracknell forest,
- braconid,
- bracteal,
- bracteate,
- bracteolate,
- bracteole,
- bracteose
Origin of bract
1760–70; earlier bractea < Latin: a thin plate of metal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for bract
bract
/ (brækt) /
noun
a specialized leaf, usually smaller than the foliage leaves, with a single flower or inflorescence growing in its axil
Word Origin for bract
C18: from New Latin bractea, Latin: thin metal plate, gold leaf, variant of brattea, of obscure origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
bract
in botany, "small leaf at the base of a flower," Modern Latin, from Latin bractea, literally "thin metal plate," of unknown origin. Related: Bracteal; bracteate.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
bract
[ brăkt ]
A modified leaf growing just below a flower or flower stalk. Bracts are generally small and inconspicuous, but some are showy and petallike, as the brightly colored bracts of bougainvillaea or the white or pink bracts of flowering dogwoods.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.