pollen

American  

[pol-uhn] / ˈpɒl ən /

noun

1. the fertilizing element of flowering plants, consisting of fine, powdery, yellowish grains or spores, sometimes in masses.

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verb (used with object)

1. to pollinate.

pollen ¹ British  

/ pəˈlɪnɪk, ˈpɒlən /

noun

1. a fine powdery substance produced by the anthers of seed-bearing plants, consisting of numerous fine grains containing the male gametes

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Pollen ² British  

/ ˈpɒlən /

noun

1. Daniel. 1813–96, New Zealand statesman, born in Ireland: prime minister of New Zealand (1876)

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pollen Scientific  

/ pŏl′ən /

1. Powdery grains that contain the male reproductive cells of most plants. In gymnosperms, pollen is produced by male cones or conelike structures. In angiosperms, pollen is produced by the anthers at the end of stamens in flowers. Each pollen grain contains a generative cell, which divides into two nuclei (one of which fertilizes the egg), and a tube cell, which grows into a pollen tube to conduct the generative cell or the nuclei into the ovule. The pollen grain is the male gametophyte generation of seed-bearing plants. In gymnosperms, each pollen grain also contains two sterile cells (called prothallial cells), thought to be remnants of the vegetative tissue of the male gametophyte.

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pollen Cultural  

1. The male sex cells in plants. In flowering plants, pollen is produced in thin filaments in the flower called stamens. (See fertilization and pollination.)

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Discover More

When pollen is carried into the air by the wind, it frequently causes allergic reactions (see allergy) in humans.

Other Word Forms

• pollenless adjective
• pollenlike adjective
• pollinic adjective
• pollinical adjective
• unpollened adjective

Etymology

Origin of pollen

1515–25; < New Latin, special use of Latin: fine flour, mill dust

Explanation

Pollen is the grainy stuff inside a flowering plant that makes it possible for the plant to reproduce. Insects, birds, people, and the wind help to spread pollen between plants. When pollen spreads to the female part of a plant, it germinates, or begins the process of growing a new plant. When pollen spreads like this, it's called pollination, and it's how plants reproduce. Pollen is great for plants but not so great if you have hay fever, an allergy to pollen. The first meaning of pollen was "fine flour," which is what pollen looks like.

Example Sentences

Their findings show that temperate woodland species, including oak, elm, and hazel, were present much earlier than suggested by pollen records from Britain.

From Science Daily • Apr. 17, 2026

In another chapter, Mr. Haskell follows the path of an owlet moth into the cranefly orchid’s flower and lets us watch how sacs of pollen attach themselves to the insect’s eye.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

In response to the change in the weather, pollen levels will be lower in Scotland, Northern Ireland on Thursday but remain high or very high in England and Wales.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

Working with Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the University of Greenwich, and the Technical University of Denmark, the scientists engineered a diet that mimics the key nutrients bees normally get from pollen.

From Science Daily • Mar. 27, 2026

Hugh blows the yucca pollen off his blackened shrimp while I push back the sleeves of my borrowed sport coat and search the meat tower for my promised potatoes.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Related Words

• antigen
• dander
• irritant
• ragweed