Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

vitta

American  
[vit-uh] / ˈvɪt ə /

noun

vittae plural
  1. Botany. a tube or receptacle for oil, occurring in the fruits of most plants of the parsley family.

  2. Zoology, Botany. a streak or stripe, as of color.


vitta British  
/ ˈvɪtə /

noun

  1. any of numerous tubelike cavities containing oil or resin that occur in the fruits of certain plants, esp of parsley and other umbellifers

  2. biology a band or stripe of colour

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of vitta

1685–95; < Latin: ribbon, fillet, akin to viēre to weave together

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:

Over head and shoulders the full skirts of a vitta fell, erasing outline, and, contrasting the stature with that of the attending servant, he concluded that the small traveler was a child.

From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Miller, Elizabeth

On each side, sometimes on the anterior aspect, sometimes quite laterally, is a narrow elongated band or vitta, as it is here designated, from which the distinctive sectional appellation is derived.

From Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. Including Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, Etc. to Which Is Added the Account of Mr. E.B. Kennedy's Expedition for the Exploration of the Cape York Peninsula. By John Macgillivray, F.R.G.S. Naturalist to the Expedition. — Volume 1 by MacGillivray, John

Frontal stripe: Diptera; the middle of the front when membranous or discolored: = vitta frontalis.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

Before Amaryllis could gather resolution to protest, she was out again, clothed in mantle and vitta and, walking swiftly, disappeared into the vestibule.

From The City of Delight A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem by Leyendecker, Frank X.

Momus drove on leisurely and Laodice, knowing that she must not look, slipped down in her place and wrapped her vitta over her face.

From The City of Delight A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem by Leyendecker, Frank X.

Cells elongated ovoid; avicularia large and projecting, without any superior appendage; vittae narrow, rather anterior.

From Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. Including Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, Etc. to Which Is Added the Account of Mr. E.B. Kennedy's Expedition for the Exploration of the Cape York Peninsula. By John Macgillivray, F.R.G.S. Naturalist to the Expedition. — Volume 1 by MacGillivray, John

Its leaves have a resemblance to those of a pæony; the fruit is distinguished by divided and interrupted vittae, which form a network on the surface.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

The more distinctive characters are taken from the comparatively broad vittae, and the flat or cupped upper surface of the avicularia, which are usually continued downwards into a prominent ridge or ala.

From Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. Including Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, Etc. to Which Is Added the Account of Mr. E.B. Kennedy's Expedition for the Exploration of the Cape York Peninsula. By John Macgillivray, F.R.G.S. Naturalist to the Expedition. — Volume 1 by MacGillivray, John

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training