vitta

[vit-uh]

noun, plural vit·tae

[vit-ee] /ˈvɪt i/.

Botany. a tube or receptacle for oil, occurring in the fruits of most plants of the parsley family.
Zoology, Botany. a streak or stripe, as of color.

Origin of vitta

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for vitta

Historical Examples of vitta

The vitta was at once the symbol and the talisman of chastity.
Gryll Grange
Thomas Love Peacock
Vitta (plural vitt), the oil-tubes of the fruit of Umbellifer.
The Elements of Botany
Asa Gray
Cells furnished with a narrow elongated band or vitta on each side, without fenestrae.
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. In Two Volumes. Volume 1.
John MacGillivray
He laid a hand unsteady with its tremor of delight and young eagerness upon the vitta and it slipped off her hair.
The City of Delight
Elizabeth Miller
Shall I recommend my young friend to wrap up the heads of his Vestals in a vitta?
Gryll Grange
Thomas Love Peacock

British Dictionary definitions for vitta

vitta

noun plural -tae (-tiː)

any of numerous tubelike cavities containing oil or resin that occur in the fruits of certain plants, esp of parsley and other umbellifers
biology a band or stripe of colour

Derived Formsvittate, adjective

Word Origin for vitta

C17: from Latin: headband; related to viēre to plait

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