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:
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
Again, let us suppose the variation of an extra long nectary, and the writer recently saw a number of these orchids with nectaries thirteen inches in length.
From My Studio Neighbors by William Hamilton Gibson
Long before his death a sphinx moth arrived from South Brazil which shows a proboscis between ten and eleven inches long—very nearly equal, therefore, to the task of probing the nectary of Angræcum sesquipidale.
From About Orchids A Chat by Frederick Boyle
The anthers and stigmas of flowers are probably nourished by the honey, which is secreted by the honey-gland called by Linneus the nectary; and possess greater sensibility or animation than other parts of the plant.
From The Temple of Nature; or, the Origin of Society A Poem, with Philosophical Notes by Erasmus Darwin
The opening to the nectary is seen just below the stigmatic surface, the nectary itself being nearly two inches in length.
From My Studio Neighbors by William Hamilton Gibson
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 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
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
There were bees, too; and bee-birds humming from flower to flower, and robbing their rich nectaries.
From The Boy Hunters by Unknown
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.
