stamen
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of stamen
1640–50; < Latin stāmen warp in upright loom, thread, filament, equivalent to stā ( re ) to stand + -men noun suffix; akin to Greek stḗmōn warp, Sanskrit sthāman place
Explanation
A stamen is the part of a flower that produces pollen so it can reproduce. The number of stamens in most flowers is the same as the number of petals. In many flowers, you can easily see the stamens—or more precisely, the parts of the stamen called filaments, the thin stalks in the middle of the bloom, and the anthers, the tiny pods that hold the pollen. In Latin, stamen means "foundational warp thread in weaving," and its root means "to stand, or make firm."
Vocabulary lists containing stamen
Life Science: Plants
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Plants (Botany) - Middle School
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Plants (Botany) - High School
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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:
This allowed them to identify a signal emitted by the maternal tissue that attracts pollen tubes by leading them to elongate along the stamen tissue and reach the site of fertilization.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2024
When a bee rummages around for nectar in the flower’s center, it triggers the next stamen to come sweeping in, ready for a new bee, or the previous bee’s return.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2019
Each stamen consists of a stalk called a filament with an anther at its tip.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2018
Her ivory neck and face rises like a stamen from her red satin dress, perhaps evoking the Florentine fleur-de-lis.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 22, 2010
I was the stamen in the middle of a twirling flower.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Inside the egg, a surprise awaits: a bouquet of flowers made of white quartz wood anemones, each flower with gold wire stem and stamens.
From Barron's ● Nov. 27, 2025
The hairy flower has a clear, glossy bottom and a yellow-orange tube that contains its stamens.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 4, 2023
Instead, the rodents brush against the scores of scarlet stamens, which carry the pollen that could then cling to the their fur coats until being transferred to another feijoa tree.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2022
Later in spring, bloom continues more demurely, when Magnolia wilsonii and M. sieboldii, a couple of Larson’s favorite species, produce fragrant, nodding white flowers with pink to crimson stamens.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2022
They couldn’t remember things the way everyone else could, or see the models that were in the air, you know, of chromosomes or stamens.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
These fibers consume large amounts of oxygen and are associated with improved stamina and athletic performance.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 3, 2026
Historically regarded as a summer stamina booster -- particularly among older and rural people -- dog meat has steadily fallen out of favour as younger Koreans embrace dogs as pets and public attitudes shift.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
With no index and tens of thousands of entries, the archive demands patience, stamina and a willingness to read page after page in search of patterns and relevant information.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Come nightfall, capturing the lightning bugs during the few hours they appear each evening takes stamina and perseverance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
He was stronger than ever—and had endless stamina, all thanks to his Bokator training.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
