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

A long, thin structure called a style leads from the sticky stigma, where pollen is deposited, to the ovary, enclosed in the carpel.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

The ovary is the wide part of the carpel.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

This is seen in cases where the margins of the carpel do not unite, but remain separate, and consequently two placentas are formed in place of one.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various