rachis
Americannoun
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rachises,
plural
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rachides
plural
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Botany.
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the axis of an inflorescence when somewhat elongated, as in a raceme.
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(in a pinnately compound leaf or frond) the prolongation of the petiole along which the leaflets are disposed.
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any of various axial structures.
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Ornithology. the part of the shaft of a feather bearing the web.
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Anatomy. spinal column.
noun
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botany the main axis or stem of an inflorescence or compound leaf
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ornithol the shaft of a feather, esp the part that carries the barbs
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another name for spinal column
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rachises
plural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of rachis
1775–85; < New Latin < Greek rháchis spine, ridge, backbone
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Each leaflet may have its own stalk, but is attached to the rachis.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
In all modern feathers, the central shaft or rachis is a hollow tube.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 14, 2018
Most modern bird feathers have a central shaft called a rachis; think of the ink rod in a quill pen.
From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2016
The feathers lack the well-developed central shaft - a rachis - known from modern birds.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2016
Using my HB pencil, I work to sketch out the barbs of the feather, drawing lines from the rachis outward.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
The inflorescence is a spike-like panicle, with very short filiform inarticulate branches and rachises.
From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by K. Rangachari
Many species of Andropogon have such jointed rachises.
From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by K. Rangachari
Sometimes at the base of the rachises, main or secondary, glandular streaks are seen as in the rachises of Sporobolus coromandelianus.
From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by K. Rangachari
The female inflorescence is a large globose head consisting of short spikelets articulate at the very base of the rachis, short bracts and very long, spreading, rigid rod-like rachises.
From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by K. Rangachari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
