terete

American  

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

adjective

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

2. cylindrical or slightly tapering.

---

terete British  

/ ˈtɛriːt /

adjective

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

---

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

See Examples For:

terete

Pod linear or oblong, nearly terete or 4-sided, with a stout 1-seeded beak or a rigid style; valves 1–5-nerved.

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 Asa Gray

Seeds globose or angled.—Stems terete, from coated bulbs, with few plicate leaves, and few fugacious flowers from 2-bracted spathes.

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 Asa Gray

Cupule 1-flowered, scaly and entire; nut hard and terete.

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 Asa Gray

Spikelets ovoid, terete, the numerous scales all alike and regularly imbricated, each with a perfect flower.

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 Asa Gray

Culm usually hollow, terete; sheaths split to the base.

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 Asa Gray

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---