stamen
Americannoun
-
stamens,
plural
-
stamina
plural
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
The second group was more lackadaisical, and its fresh stamen concentration peaked at the 45-minute mark.
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
She drew faces, places, and minute details of plants and animals—a stamen here, a paw there, the rotted out tooth of an aged goat.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
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
Positively charged hummingbirds pull negatively charged plant stamens toward their beaks.
From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 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
Later that day, her students would tear those silky petals from their stems, counting stamens and pistils to learn botany.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2021
During recess, when she catches me examining a flower I’d never seen before up close, and I explain I’m counting the stamens, she starts calling me Virginia the Esteemed Scientist.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
They’re in it for the long haul—there is a sense of orderliness, of anger and energy being spent judiciously to preserve stamina.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
“I feel all right,” said Wrobleski, a first-time All-Star, about his season-long stamina after his last outing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
His tireless travel schedule and quick wit testify to his stamina -- and he also credits his third wife Rosangela da Silva, 59, with keeping him young.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
These fibers consume large amounts of oxygen and are associated with improved stamina and athletic performance.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 3, 2026
Of all the del Valle children, Clara was the one with the greatest interest in and stamina for her uncle’s stories.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
