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• pollen
  pollen

  noun

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

  noun

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

pollen

American  

[pol-uhn] / ˈpɒl ən /

noun

• pollens
  plural

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  

/ ˈpɒlən /

noun

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

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pollen ² British  

/ 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 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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pollens
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pollen

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

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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

See Examples For:

pollen Pollen pollens

Bogong moths are thought to help plants spread pollen and are also a key food source for the mountain pygmy possum, a critically endangered cave-dwelling marsupial.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

The disease is carried by the Asian citrus psyllid, a non-native insect so tiny it can be mistaken for pollen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

These included the date of the first flower, flower size, nectar sugar, flowering time, and the distance between flowers' anthers, or the pollen-producing part of the flower, and the stigma, the structure that receives pollen.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

AI software can identify each open blossom and direct a robotic arm — or a worker — to release pollen with the precision needed to avoid deformed fruit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

By around 5,000 years ago, pollen analyses testify to widespread deforestation of highland valleys, suggesting forest clearance for agriculture.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

"Pollen has been very useful in identifying different coatings where the molecular profiles were identical."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

Pollen collected by bumblebees contained between two and seven times more heavy metals than pollen collected by honeybees across most of the metals examined.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026

Equipped initially only with ideas and not a working prototype, Pollen and Isherwood sought cooperation and support from the British Admiralty.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026

"Fern came to us very underweight after raising five hungry pups outdoors, so we focused straightaway on building her back up with a really nutritious diet," Ms Pollen said.

From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2026

Hosteen Mitchells fingers delicately sprinkled golden grains to make the figure of Pollen Boy on the mound where everything was prepared.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

They also produced artificial foods designed to mimic either the amino acid composition of different pollens or the composition of honeybee tissues.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

It is estimated that 13 million people in the UK suffer from hay fever - an allergy to different pollens.

From BBC ● May 30, 2025

Some of the most common tree pollens that cause allergies include birch, cedar, cottonwood, maple, elm, oak and walnut, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2024

She also explains that asthma is likely influenced by where someone lives—exposure to pollutants as well as the types of pollens or allergens can differ from region to region.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 20, 2023

If I can prove what I really believe, it is a grand case of trimorphism, with three different pollens and three stigmas.

From See America First by Orville O. Hiestand

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