cotyledon
Americannoun
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the primary or rudimentary leaf of the embryo of seed plants.
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Anatomy. any of several lobules of the placenta.
noun
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a simple embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, which, in some species, forms the first green leaf after germination
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a tuft of villi on the mammalian placenta
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A leaf of the embryo of a seed-bearing plant. Most cotyledons emerge, enlarge, and become green after the seed has germinated. Cotyledons either store food for the growing embryo (as in monocotyledons) or absorb food that has been stored in the endosperm (as in other angiosperms) for eventual distribution to the growing parts of the embryo.
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Also called seed leaf
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See more at eudicotyledon monocotyledon
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cotyledon
1535–45; < Latin: navelwort < Greek kotylēdṓn a plant (probably navelwort), literally, a cuplike hollow, derivative of kotýlē cup
Vocabulary lists containing cotyledon
Plants (Botany) - Middle School
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Plants (Botany) - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In five days, the “baby” cotyledon leaves were up, with the “true” notched tomato leaves following at day 10.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 27, 2023
Swinger says the sprout, called a cotyledon, only exists for a few days and once it grew slightly the birds didn’t want to eat it anymore.
From Washington Times • Jul. 17, 2016
They said "cotyledon," and "syngenesious," and "coniferous," and such words, remarkably well, considering they did not care two straws about them.
From How to Do It by Hale, Edward Everett
Embryo with a single cotyledon and the early leaves always alternate.
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
The name is derived from the absence of a seed-leaf or cotyledon.
From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
