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caryopsis

[kar-ee-op-sis]
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noun, plural car·y·op·ses [kar-ee-op-seez] /ˌkær iˈɒp siz/ car·y·op·si·des [kar-ee-op-si-deez] /ˌkær iˈɒp sɪˌdiz/. Botany.
  1. a small, one-celled, one-seeded, dry indehiscent fruit with the pericarp adherent to the seed coat, the typical fruit of grasses and grains.
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Origin of caryopsis

First recorded in 1820–30; cary(o)- + -opsis
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for caryopsis

Historical Examples

  • Caryopsis grooved, blunt and more tightly held in the palea.

    Grasses

    H. Marshall Ward

  • Caryopsis 7-8 mm., less flattened than in Bromus, with a shallow groove.

    Grasses

    H. Marshall Ward

  • The caryopsis is shorter and more ovoid than in other Bromes.

    Grasses

    H. Marshall Ward

  • In Lolium and Agropyrum the caryopsis is still more wheat-like and grooved.

    Grasses

    H. Marshall Ward

  • The caryopsis is very narrow, and the rachilla long and feathered with hairs.

    Grasses

    H. Marshall Ward

British Dictionary definitions for caryopsis

caryopsis

noun plural -ses (-siːz) or -sides (-sɪˌdiːz)
  1. a dry seedlike fruit having the pericarp fused to the seed coat of the single seed: produced by the grasses
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Word Origin

C19: New Latin; see karyo-, -opsis
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
caryopsis in Science

caryopsis

[kăr′ē-ŏp′sĭs]
Plural caryopses (kăr′ē-ŏp′sēz′) caryopsides (kăr′ē-ŏp′sĭ-dēz′)
  1. A small, dry, one-seeded fruit of a cereal grass, having the fruit and the seed walls united. Also called grain
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.