pollen

[ pol-uhn ]
See synonyms for pollen on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the fertilizing element of flowering plants, consisting of fine, powdery, yellowish grains or spores, sometimes in masses.

verb (used with object)

Origin of pollen

1
1515–25; <New Latin, special use of Latin: fine flour, mill dust

Other words from pollen

  • pol·len·less, adjective
  • pol·len·like, adjective
  • pol·lin·ic [puh-lin-ik], /pəˈlɪn ɪk/, pol·lin·i·cal, adjective
  • un·pol·lened, adjective

Words Nearby pollen

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pollen in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pollen (1 of 2)

pollen

/ (ˈpɒlən) /


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

Origin of pollen

1
C16: from Latin: powder; compare Greek palē pollen

Derived forms of pollen

  • pollinic (pəˈlɪnɪk), adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Pollen (2 of 2)

Pollen

/ (ˈpɒlən) /


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

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 pollen

pollen

[ pŏlən ]


  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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for pollen

pollen

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

Notes for pollen

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

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.