penicillate

American

[pen-uh-sil-it, -eyt] / ˌpɛn əˈsɪl ɪt, -eɪt /

adjective

having a penicil or penicils.

penicillate British

/ -eɪt, ˌpɛnɪˈsɪlɪt /

adjective

biology having or resembling one or more tufts of fine hairs

a penicillate caterpillar

"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

Other Word Forms

penicillately adverb
penicillation noun

Etymology

Origin of penicillate

1810–20; < Latin pēnicill ( us ) ( pencil ) + -ate ¹

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.

Penicillate, Penicilliform, tipped with a tuft of fine hairs, like a painter's pencil; as the stigmas of some Grasses.

From Project Gutenberg

Penicillate: with a long, flexible brush or pencil of hair: often at the end of a thin stalk.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023