spathe

[ speyth ]

/ speɪð /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spathe ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Botany.

a bract or pair of bracts, often large and colored, subtending or enclosing a spadix or flower cluster.

Nearby words

spasticity, spat, spatchcock, spate, spathaceous, spathe, spathic, spathiphyllum, spathose, spathulate, spatial

Origin of spathe

1775–85; < Latin spatha < Greek spáthē blade, sword, stem; cf. spade²

Related formsspathed, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for spathe

As this spathe withers away, the flower-stalk continues to grow, and its little greenish-yellow blossoms become brown.
The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits|Mary Elizabeth Parsons
Aquatic, with more or less irregular perfect flowers from a spathe; perianth corolla-like.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States|Asa Gray
This organ, rolled up in a coil or spiral, is named the spathe.
Everyday Objects|W. H. Davenport Adams
Previous to the sudden bursting, about sunset, of the spathe containing the spadix, there is an accumulation of heat therein.
Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics|Richard Folkard

Operations begin when the spathe is still enclosed by its sheath.
Castes and Tribes of Southern India|Edgar Thurston

British Dictionary definitions for spathe

spathe

/ (speɪð) /

noun

a large bract, often coloured, that surrounds the inflorescence of aroid plants and palms

Derived Formsspathaceous (spəˈθeɪʃəs), adjectivespathed, adjective

Word Origin for spathe

C18: from Latin spatha, from Greek spathē a blade

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