carpel

American  

[kahr-puhl] / ˈkɑr pəl /

noun

Botany.

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

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carpel British  

/ ˈkɑːpɪˌleɪt, 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

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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

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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

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

The androecium is composed of stamens which cluster around the carpel.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

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

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

At the center of the perianth is a vase-like structure called the carpel.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

The surface by which one carpel joins another, as in the Umbelliferæ.

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