Showing results for coleoptile. Search instead for coleoptiles.

coleoptile

American

[koh-lee-op-til, kol-ee-] / ˌkoʊ liˈɒp tɪl, ˌkɒl i- /

noun

Botany.

(in grasses) the first leaf above the ground, forming a sheath around the stem tip.

coleoptile British

/ ˌkɒlɪˈɒptaɪl /

noun

a protective sheath around the plumule in grasses

"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

coleoptile Scientific

/ kō′lē-ŏp′tĭl,kŏl′ē- /

A protective sheath enclosing the shoot tip and embryonic leaves of grasses.

Etymology

Origin of coleoptile

1865–70; < New Latin coleoptilum < Greek koleó ( n ) sheath, scabbard + ptílon soft feathers, down

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023