calyx

[ key-liks, kal-iks ]
See synonyms for calyx on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural ca·lyx·es, cal·y·ces [kal-uh-seez, key-luh-]. /ˈkæl əˌsiz, ˈkeɪ lə-/.
  1. Botany. the outermost group of floral parts; the sepals.

  2. Anatomy, Zoology. a cuplike part.

Origin of calyx

1
First recorded in 1665–75; from Latin, from Greek kályx “cup, calyx (of a flower), husk, pod, covering,” akin to kalýptein “to veil, cover”
  • Also ca·lix .

Other words from calyx

  • cal·y·cate [kal-i-keyt], /ˈkæl ɪˌkeɪt/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use calyx in a sentence

  • All this bubbling of sap and slipping of sheaths and bursting of calyxes was carried to her on mingled currents of fragrance.

    Summer | Edith Wharton
  • He looked so desperate that she laughed her silver, ringing laughter that shook the rose‑petals from their calyxes.

    The Silver Butterfly | Mrs. Wilson Woodrow
  • These enormous calyxes were of the most brilliant golden yellow, azure, and purple.

  • The trees were raining too, showers of willow-catkins and cherry-bud calyxes, which fell noiselessly and strewed the ground.

    Nine Little Goslings | Susan Coolidge
  • I have shown one of these calyxes in my title picture, at the right, one-half of it being torn off, and disclosing a cavity.

    Eye Spy | William Hamilton Gibson

British Dictionary definitions for calyx

calyx

/ (ˈkeɪlɪks, ˈkælɪks) /


nounplural calyxes or calyces (ˈkælɪˌsiːz, ˈkeɪlɪ-)
  1. the sepals of a flower collectively, forming the outer floral envelope that protects the developing flower bud: Compare corolla

  2. any cup-shaped cavity or structure, esp any of the divisions of the human kidney (renal calyx) that form the renal pelvis

Origin of calyx

1
C17: from Latin, from Greek kalux shell, from kaluptein to cover, hide

Derived forms of calyx

  • calycate (ˈkælɪˌkeɪt), adjective

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

Scientific definitions for calyx

calyx

[ lĭks, kălĭks ]


  1. The sepals of a flower considered as a group. The calyx is the outermost whorl of a flower. See more at sepal.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.