carpel

American  

[kahr-puhl] / ˈkɑr pəl /

noun

Botany.

1. a simple pistil, or a single member of a compound pistil.

---

carpel British  

/ ˈkɑːpəl /

noun

1. the female reproductive organ of flowering plants, consisting of an ovary, style (sometimes absent), and stigma. The carpels are separate or fused to form a single pistil

---

carpel Scientific  

/ kär′pəl /

1. One of the individual female reproductive organs in a flower. A carpel is composed of an ovary, a style, and a stigma, although some flowers have carpels without a distinct style. In origin, carpels are leaves (megasporophylls) that have evolved to enclose the ovules. The term pistil is sometimes used to refer to a single carpel or to several carpels fused together.

2. See more at flower

---

Other Word Forms

• carpellary
  adjective
• carpellate
  adjective
• intercarpellary
  adjective

---

Etymology

Origin of carpel

1810–20; < New Latin carpellum, equivalent to Greek karp ( ós ) fruit + Latin -ellum diminutive suffix

---

Compare meaning

How does carpel compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• pistil vs. carpel

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carpel

That year, Strasburg underwent season-ending carpel tunnel surgery — before eventually needing a procedure to address thoracic outlet syndrome.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 5, 2023

Pollination occurs when a pollen grain lands on the stigma, the flat structure at the top of the carpel.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

The narrow neck of the carpel, called the style, widens into a flat stima at the top.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

Macrospores form inside vase-like carpel, in the ovules, which are in the ovaries.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

The fruit, like the ovary, may be formed of a single carpel or of several.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---