palmate

American  

[pal-meyt, -mit, pahl-, pah-meyt] / ˈpæl meɪt, -mɪt, ˈpɑl-, ˈpɑ meɪt /

Often palmated

adjective

1. shaped like an open palm or like a hand with the fingers extended, as a leaf or an antler.

2. Botany. having four or more lobes or leaflets radiating from a single point.

3. Zoology. web-footed.

4. Furniture.

   1. decorated with palmettes.

   2. (in furniture of the 17th century) having bands of semicircles enclosing a radiating leaf form.

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palmate British  

/ ˈpælmeɪt, -mɪt /

adjective

1. shaped like an open hand

   palmate antlers

2. botany having more than three lobes or segments that spread out from a common point

   palmate leaves

3. (of the feet of most water birds) having three toes connected by a web

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palmate Scientific  

/ păl′māt′,päl′- /

1. Having a shape similar to that of a hand with the fingers extended. Some kinds of coral and the antlers of moose and certain deer are palmate.

2. Having three or more veins, leaflets, or lobes radiating from one point. Maples have palmately lobed leaves.

3. Having webbed toes. The feet of many swimming and diving birds are palmate.

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Other Word Forms

• palmately adverb
• subpalmate adjective
• subpalmated adjective

Etymology

Origin of palmate

First recorded in 1750–60, palmate is from the Latin word palmātus shaped like a palm. See palm ¹, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Large palmate leaves and dramatic flowers on stems to 6 feet create a stunning focal point in the landscape.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 29, 2023

These include the great crested, smooth and palmate newts, common toad and frog, common lizard, slow-worm, grass snake and adder, as well as the wall and green lizards and agile frog in Jersey.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2011

The only species found to be increasing its range is the palmate newt.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2011

Surprisingly, palmate newt numbers are higher than expected, which might indicate changes in the quality of Britain's ponds.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2011

Pistils 3–10, sessile, forming coriaceous many-seeded pods.—Perennial herbs, with ample palmate or pedate leaves, and large, solitary, nodding, early vernal flowers.

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