pappus

[ pap-uhs ]

/ ˈpæp əs /

Save This Word!

noun, plural pap·pi

[pap-ahy]. /ˈpæp aɪ/. Botany.

a downy, bristly, or other tuftlike appendage of the achene of certain plants, as the dandelion and the thistle.

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of pappus

1695–1705; <New Latin <Greek páppos down, literally, grandfather (taken as greybeard, white hairs, down)

Words nearby pappus

Papp, pappadam, pappardelle, pappenheimer, pappose, pappus, Pappus of Alexandria, pappy, paprika, Pap smear, Pap test

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pappus in a sentence

Pappus pilosus, denticulato scaber, pluriserialis, radiolis exterioribus brevioribus.
Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, Part III (the Text Being Chapters XXVIII-XXXIII of the London Edition, 1843, and the Appendix a Combination of the Appendices of the London and German [Coblentz, 1839] Editions)|Maximilian, Prinz von Wied
I do not think that I made enough about the great power of absorption of water by the corolla-like calyx or pappus.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II|Charles Darwin
Moreover, the hairs of the pappus which crowns the seed are four times longer, and unequal instead of being equal.
Origin of Cultivated Plants|Alphonse De Candolle
In both species the achenes of the ray have no pappus, but those of the disc have a pappus of stiff hairs in several rows.
Field and Woodland Plants|William S. Furneaux

The fruit is brown, curved, with transverse ridges and a stalked pappus of feathery hairs.
Field and Woodland Plants|William S. Furneaux

British Dictionary definitions for pappus

pappus

/ (ˈpæpəs) /

noun plural pappi (ˈpæpaɪ)

a ring of fine feathery hairs surrounding the fruit in composite plants, such as the thistle; aids dispersal of the fruits by the wind

Derived forms of pappus

pappose or pappous, adjective

Word Origin for pappus

C18: via New Latin, from Greek pappos grandfather, old man, old man's beard, hence: pappus, down

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

Scientific definitions for pappus

pappus

[ păp′əs ]

Plural pappi (păp′ī)

A structure made of scales, bristles, or featherlike hairs that is attached to the seeds (called cypselae) of plants of the composite family and that aids in dispersal by the wind. The downy part of a dandelion or thistle seed is a pappus. The pappus is derived from a modified calyx.