capitulum

[ kuh-pich-uh-luhm ]
See synonyms for capitulum on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural ca·pit·u·la [kuh-pich-uh-luh]. /kəˈpɪtʃ ə lə/.
  1. Biology. any globose or knoblike part, as a flower head or the head of a bone.

Origin of capitulum

1
1715–25; <Latin, equivalent to capit- (stem of caput) head + -ulum, neuter of -ulus-ule

Words Nearby capitulum

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British Dictionary definitions for capitulum

capitulum

/ (kəˈpɪtjʊləm) /


nounplural -la (-lə)
  1. a racemose inflorescence in the form of a disc of sessile flowers, the youngest at the centre. It occurs in the daisy and related plants

  2. anatomy zoology a headlike part, esp the enlarged knoblike terminal part of a long bone, antenna, etc

Origin of capitulum

1
C18: from Latin, literally: a little head, from caput head

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 capitulum

capitulum

[ kə-pĭchə-ləm ]


Plural capitula
  1. A small knob or head-shaped part, such as a protuberance of a bone or the tip of an insect's antenna.

  2. An inflorescence consisting of a compact mass of small stalkless flowers, as in the English daisy. The yellow central portion of the capitulum of a daisy consists of disk flowers, while the outer white, petallike structures are actually ray flowers. The capitulum is the characteristic inflorescence of the composite family (Asteraceae) of flowering plants.

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