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pistil

[pis-tl]
See more synonyms for pistil on Thesaurus.com
noun Botany.
  1. the ovule-bearing or seed-bearing female organ of a flower, consisting when complete of ovary, style, and stigma.
  2. such organs collectively, where there are more than one in a flower.
  3. a gynoecium.
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Origin of pistil

1570–80; earlier pistillum, special use of Latin pistillum pestle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pistil

Historical Examples

  • At the centre is the pistil, one or more, which forms the ultimate fruit.

    My Studio Neighbors

    William Hamilton Gibson

  • The pistil is divided into three parts, ovary, style, and stigma.

    My Studio Neighbors

    William Hamilton Gibson

  • The pistil is generally divisible into the ovary or germen, the style and the stigma.

  • Pistil: the part of the blossom that contains the immature seeds.

    Agriculture for Beginners

    Charles William Burkett

  • In the broom the pistil is rubbed on the centre of the back of the bee.

British Dictionary definitions for pistil

pistil

noun
  1. the female reproductive part of a flower, consisting of one or more separate or fused carpels; gynoecium
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Word Origin

C18: from Latin pistillum pestle
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

Word Origin and History for pistil

n.

"female organ of a flower," 1718, from French pistil, from Modern Latin pistillum "a pistil," so called from resemblance to a pestle, from Latin pistillum "pestle" (see pestle). Related: Pistillary; pistillaceous; pistillate; pistilline.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
pistil in Science

pistil

[pĭs′təl]
  1. One of the female reproductive organs of a flower, consisting of a single carpel or of several carpels fused together. A flower may have one pistil or more than one, though some flowers lack pistils and bear only the male reproductive organs known as stamens. See more at carpel flower.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
pistil in Culture

pistil

[(pis-tuhl)]

The female part of a plant. In flowering plants, it is at the center of the flower. When fertilized with pollen, the pistil develops into fruit.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.