nectary
Americannoun
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nectaries
plural
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Botany. an organ or part that secretes nectar.
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Entomology. a cornicle (formerly thought to secrete honeydew).
noun
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any of various glandular structures secreting nectar that occur in the flowers, leaves, stipules, etc, of a plant
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any of the abdominal tubes in aphids through which honeydew is secreted
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of nectary
From the New Latin word nectarium, dating back to 1590–1600. See nectar, -y 3
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.
See Examples For:
If an orchid has a nectary one inch long, an insect's tongue of equivalent length is implied; a nectary six inches in length likewise implies a tongue six inches long.
From My Studio Neighbors by William Hamilton Gibson
Anthers equal in number to the teeth of the nectary and inserted between them.
From The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Jerome Beers Thomas
Even the nectary which is adherent to the upper surface of the pedicel in the normal flower disappears—sometimes completely, at other tunes partially.
From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Maxwell T. Masters
The flowers expand, and a set of vessels pour into the cup or nectary a minute portion of honey.
From Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained by M. (Moses) Quinby
It was to such structures that the name of nectary was applied by old authors.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various
The study, recently published in Nature Communications, revealed that ferns and flowering plants independently evolved nectaries, specialized structures that secrete sugary rewards to attract ant bodyguards, around the same time in the Cretaceous period.
From Science Daily ● May 30, 2024
By integrating phylogenetic data and comparative analyses, the research team discovered that nectaries originated concurrently in ferns and angiosperms, but ferns experienced a significant lag in diversification compared to their flowering plant counterparts.
From Science Daily ● May 30, 2024
"Our research highlights a fascinating example of convergent evolution, where ferns and flowering plants independently developed similar strategies to defend themselves against predation by recruiting ant defenders with nectaries," said Suissa.
From Science Daily ● May 30, 2024
The moth uses its proboscis to suck nectar by inserting it through a tiny opening into the floral nectaries, seemingly effortlessly and in a matter of seconds.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 29, 2024
In Aconitum, monkshood, the nectaries stand upright like two horns covered with a hood, which abounds with such acrid matter that no insects penetrate it.
From The Botanic Garden. Part II. Containing the Loves of the Plants. a Poem. With Philosophical Notes. by Erasmus Darwin
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.
