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

He cut a lemon open; the walls of its carpels had crumbled into a pulpy mush.

From New York Times

Their seeds form in the carpel, a tubular structure that sticks up from the center of a flower and matures into a pod that holds seeds—peas or beans, for example—inside.

From Science Magazine

Stems might be fashioned from paper towels; carpels are made from toilet paper.

From New York Times

He had carpel tunnel syndrome in his left hand, a bad shoulder and macular degeneration that made it hard for him to see the ball at address.

From Golf Digest

One thing is for sure, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t had to worry about suffering with carpel tunnel syndrome from signing too many bills.

From Washington Times