-carpous

American  

1. a combining form meaning “fruited,” “having fruit, fruiting bodies, or carpels of a given sort,” as specified by the initial element.

   apocarpous.

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-carpous British  

combining form

1. (in botany) indicating a certain kind or number of fruit

   apocarpous

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Usage

What does -carpous mean? The combining form -carpous is used like a suffix meaning “fruited,” “having fruit, fruiting bodies, or carpels of a given sort.” It is often used in scientific terms, especially in botany.The form -carpous comes from the Greek karpós, meaning “fruit.” The word carpel also ultimately derives from the Greek karpós. A carpel is a simple pistil, which comprises the female organs of a flower—the parts that bear seeds.Equivalent to -carpous is -carpic. So, eucarpous can also be spelled as eucarpic; they both still mean the same thing. The combining form -carpic is used to form adjectives of words ending in -carp.All of these forms bear a lot of lexical “fruit,” but what’s the difference between them? Read Our Words That use -carpic and -carp articles to find out.

Etymology

Origin of -carpous

< Greek -karpos, adj. derivative of karpós fruit; -ous