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silique

[suh-leek, sil-ik]
noun Botany.
  1. the long two-valved seed vessel or pod of plants belonging to the mustard family.
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Origin of silique

1400–50; late Middle English selyque, silique (< Middle French silique) < Latin siliqua; see siliqua
Related formssil·i·qua·ceous [sil-i-kwey-shuh s] /ˌsɪl ɪˈkweɪ ʃəs/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for silique

Historical Examples

  • The capsule is very long and narrow, resembling a silique in shape, but broad on the outside, and the leaves are pinnate.

    Botany for Ladies

    Jane Loudon

  • Herbs, with a pungent watery juice and cruciform tetradynamous flowers; fruit a silique or silicle.

silique in Science

silique

[sĭ-lēk′]
  1. An elongated dry dehiscent seed pod that is the characteristic fruit of the mustard family. The two sides split off at maturity and leave a central partition to which the seeds are attached.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.