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ligule

[lig-yool]
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noun Botany.
  1. a thin, membranous outgrowth from the base of the blade of most grasses.
  2. a strap-shaped corolla, as in the ray flowers of the head of certain composite plants.
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Origin of ligule

1595–1605; < Latin ligula; see ligula
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for ligule

Historical Examples

  • The ligule is a distinct membrane and the nodes are glabrous.

    A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses

    Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

  • The ligule is distinct, consisting of a fringe of stiff hairs.

    A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses

    Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

  • Anthoxanthum differs in its habit, ears, scent, sheath and ligule.

    Grasses

    H. Marshall Ward

  • Roots very tough and stringy: ligule small, but thick and blunt.

    Grasses

    H. Marshall Ward

  • Changed the last index reference for "Ligule" from 57 to 67; also the reference for "Ocreate."

British Dictionary definitions for ligule

ligule

ligula

noun
  1. a membranous outgrowth at the junction between the leaf blade and sheath in many grasses and sedges
  2. a strap-shaped corolla, such as that of a ray floret in the daisy
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Word Origin

C19: via French, from Latin ligula strap, variant of lingula, from lingua tongue
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
ligule in Science

ligule

[lĭg′yōōl]
  1. A straplike structure, such as the long flattened lobe of the corolla of a ray flower or a membranous or hairy appendage between the sheath and blade of a grass leaf.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.