lanceolate

American  

[lan-see-uh-leyt, -lit] / ˈlæn si əˌleɪt, -lɪt /

adjective

1. shaped like the head of a lance.

2. narrow, and tapering toward the apex or sometimes at the base, as a leaf.

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lanceolate British  

/ -lɪt, ˈlɑːnsɪəˌleɪt /

adjective

1. narrow and tapering to a point at each end

   lanceolate leaves

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lanceolate Scientific  

/ lăn′sē-ə-lāt′ /

1. Tapering from a rounded base toward an apex; lance-shaped. Many willows have lanceolate leaves.

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Other Word Forms

• lanceolately adverb
• sublanceolate adjective

Etymology

Origin of lanceolate

1750–60; < Latin lanceolātus armed with a small lance, equivalent to lanceol ( a ) small lance ( lance ( a ) lance ¹ + -ola -ole ¹ ) + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

The ears are far narrower than those of living rhinos – they’ve even been described as lanceolate in form.

From Scientific American • Nov. 9, 2013

Very leafy, 6–9° high; leaves lanceolate or the upper linear, serrate, white-tomentose beneath, green above; heads greenish, oblong, 2´´ long or less.—Ill. to Dak.

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

Involucre simple, of several erect lanceolate attenuate equal scales.

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

Calyx 4-cleft; petals with very short claws, leaflets narrowly lanceolate to oblong; bracts simple; pod oblong to linear, 1–2´ long, the stipe as long as the pedicel.—Minn. to Kan. and westward; N. Ill.

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

D. Caròta, L. Biennial; stem bristly; ultimate leaf-segments lanceolate and cuspidate; rays numerous.—Naturalized everywhere, from Eu.

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