terete

American  

[tuh-reet, ter-eet] / təˈrit, ˈtɛr it /

adjective

1. slender and smooth, with a circular transverse section.

2. cylindrical or slightly tapering.

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terete British  

/ ˈtɛriːt /

adjective

1. (esp of plant parts) smooth and usually cylindrical and tapering

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Other Word Forms

• subterete adjective

Etymology

Origin of terete

1610–20; earlier teret < Latin teret- (stem of teres ) smooth and round, akin to terere to rub

Example Sentences

Pappus none 67 Achene 3–4-angular, terete or laterally flattish, awnless.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Spikelets several–many-flowered, terete; scales all floriferous, regularly imbricated in several ranks.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Pod linear, terete or somewhat 4-sided, the valves being keeled by a mid-nerve.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Column very small, terete, with 2 teeth or auricles at the summit and the erect anther between them.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Fertile flowers also with a small flat gland at the base of the ovary; stigmas short.—Trees or shrubs, generally growing along streams, with terete and lithe branches.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa