pruinose

[proo-uh-nohs]

adjective Botany, Zoology.

covered with a frostlike bloom or powdery secretion, as a plant surface.

Nearby words

Origin of pruinose

1820–30; < Latin pruīnōsus frosty, equivalent to pruīn(a) frost (akin to freeze) + -ōsus -ose¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pruinose

Pruinose, Pruinate, frosted; covered with a powder like hoar-frost.
The Elements of Botany|Asa Gray
Pollen: a dusty or pruinose surface covering which is easily rubbed off; used mostly in Diptera.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology|John. B. Smith
The stem is slender, wavy, same color as the pileus, pruinose at the apex.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise|M. E. Hard
Spring-shoots multinodal, pruinose; branchlets pliant and tough.
The Genus Pinus|George Russell Shaw

Spring-shoots slender, pruinose; branchlets very pliant and tough, summer-shoots abundant.
The Genus Pinus|George Russell Shaw

British Dictionary definitions for pruinose

pruinose

adjective

botany coated with a powdery or waxy bloom

Word Origin for pruinose

C19: from Latin pruīnōsus frost-covered, from pruīna hoarfrost

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