radicle

American  

[rad-i-kuhl] / ˈræd ɪ kəl /

noun

1. Botany.

   1. the lower part of the axis of an embryo; the primary root.

   2. a rudimentary root; radicel or rootlet.

2. Chemistry. (formerly) radical.

3. Anatomy. a small rootlike part or structure, as the beginning of a nerve or vein.

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radicle British  

/ ˈrædɪkəl /

noun

1. botany

   1. part of the embryo of seed-bearing plants that develops into the main root

   2. a very small root or rootlike part

2. anatomy any bodily structure resembling a rootlet, esp one of the smallest branches of a vein or nerve

3. chem a variant spelling of radical

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radicle Scientific  

/ răd′ĭ-kəl /

1. The part of a plant embryo that develops into a root. In most seeds, the radicle is the first structure to emerge on germination.

2. A small anatomical structure, such as a fibril of a nerve, that resembles a root.

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Etymology

Origin of radicle

1665–75; < Latin rādīcula small root, equivalent to rādīc- (stem of rādīx ) root ¹ + -ula -ule

Example Sentences

Moreover, Darwin – who studied plants meticulously for most of his life, observed that the radicle – the root tip – “acts like the brain of one of the lower animals.”

From The Guardian

Seeds anatropous, mostly single in each cell, large and flat, with a smooth coriaceous integument; the embryo shorter than the hard albumen, with a long radicle and flat cotyledons.

From Project Gutenberg

At the extremity most remote from the hilum, as the embryo, or inverted with respect to the seed, as the radicle.

From Project Gutenberg

The radicles did not present the appearance of having been subjected to a sufficient pressure to account for their curvature.

From Project Gutenberg

It is possible that they may further obtain access into the circulation through the radicles which furnish the communications between the capillaries and the lymphatics.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• essence
• foundation
• heart
• origin
• seed
• soul
• source
• stem
• stuff