pinnate
Americanadjective
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(of a leaf ) having leaflets or primary divisions arranged on each side of a common stalk.
the pinnate leaves of a palm tree.
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resembling a feather, as in construction or arrangement; having parts arranged on each side of a common axis.
This type of sea cucumber has a mouth surrounded by up to 25 pinnate tentacles.
adjective
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like a feather in appearance
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(of compound leaves) having the leaflets growing opposite each other in pairs on either side of the stem
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pinnate
First recorded in 1695–1705, pinnate is from the Latin word pinnātus “feathered, winged.” See pinna, -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.
“These are all cycads,” the composer Tobias Picker said, gesturing at a low canopy of fanned-out, pinnate leaves near the entrance of the conservatory at the New York Botanical Garden.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2022
The pronouncer told her it meant a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees having pinnate leaves with imbricated petals.
From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2021
A Victorian field guide, for example, describes Agrimonia in rather uncompromising terms: "Herbs with stipulate, pinnate, serrate leaves and terminal bracteate spine-like racemes of small yellow flowers."
From The Guardian ● May 31, 2012
Galega officinalis.—A strong-growing leguminous plant, 2 to 5 ft. high, with pinnate leaves, and masses of pinkish purple pea-like flowers.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various
Fruit a berry-like juicy drupe, containing 3 small seed-like nutlets.—Shrubby plants, with a rank smell when bruised, pinnate leaves, serrate-pointed leaflets, and numerous small and white flowers in compound cymes.
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 Asa Gray
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.
