subulate

[ soo-byuh-lit, -leyt ]

/ ˈsu byə lɪt, -ˌleɪt /

adjective Biology.

slender, somewhat cylindrical, and tapering to a point; awl-shaped.

QUIZZES

Discover The Influence Of Portuguese On English Via This Quiz!

We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?

Question 1 of 11

Which of the following bird names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?

owl

crow

piranha

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby subulate

subtropical, subtropical high, subtropics, subtweet, subtype, subulate, subumbrella, subungual, subunit, subunit vaccine, suburb

Origin of subulate

1750–60; < New Latin sūbulātus, equivalent to Latin sūbul(a) awl + -ātus -ate¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for subulate

Stipules nearly free, subulate, or very narrow, usually deciduous.
Parsons on the Rose|Samuel Browne Parsons
The pharyngeal teeth are subulate and acute, and of unequal heights.
Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1.|J Lort Stokes
Receptacle convex to subulate, chaffy, the scarious chaff not embracing the smooth dorsally compressed achenes.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States|Asa Gray
Tentacula depressed, subulate, at the external base of which are the eyes.
Zoological Illustrations, Volume II|William Swainson

The leaf-sheath is glabrous or slightly hairy, the upper ones being shorter and dilated into spathes with subulate tips.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

British Dictionary definitions for subulate

subulate

/ (ˈsuːbjəlɪt, -ˌleɪt) /

adjective

(esp of plant parts) tapering to a point; awl-shaped

Word Origin for subulate

C18: from New Latin subulatus like an awl, from Latin sūbula awl

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