circinate

American  

[sur-suh-neyt] / ˈsɜr səˌneɪt /

adjective

1. made round; ring-shaped.

2. Botany, Mycology. rolled up on the axis at the apex, as a leaf or fruiting body.

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circinate British  

/ ˈsɜːsɪˌneɪt /

adjective

1. botany (of part of a plant, such as a young fern) coiled so that the tip is at the centre

2. anatomy resembling a ring or a circle

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circinate Scientific  

/ sûr′sə-nāt′ /

1. Rolled up in the form of a coil with the tip in the center, as an unexpanded fern frond.

2. See more at vernation

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Other Word Forms

• circinately
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of circinate

1820–30; < Latin circinātus (past participle of circināre to make round), equivalent to circin ( us ) pair of compasses (akin to circus ) + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

circinate

These are the buds readying for the circinate vernation that will slowly, like a graceful dancer, unfurl fiddleheads into this year’s new fronds.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2022

Seeds numerous, anatropous, with a short and minute embryo at the base of the albumen.—Leaves circinate in the bud, i.e., rolled up from the apex to the base as in Ferns.

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

Equisetaceæ, 675 On the back or margin of fronds circinate in vernation.

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

Most Ferns are circinate in the bud; that is, are rolled up in the manner shown in Fig.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa

Ferns, with fronds circinate in vernation, bearing the fructification on the under surface or beneath the margin.

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