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Glossary of Botanical Terms beginning with letter A
Browse the Botanical Glossary A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
abloom adverb (postpositive) In or into bloom; in a blooming state. abortive noun (Obsolete): That which is born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion. - Shakespeare, Richard III, I-iii (Obsolete): A fruitless effort or issue. A medicine to which is attributed the property of causing abortion, abortifacient - Dunglison adjective (Rare): Produced by abortion; born prematurely; as, an child. (Obsolete): Made from the skin of a still-born animal; as, vellum. (Obsolete): Rendering fruitless or ineffectual. Quotations Plunged in that gulf. Milton Coming to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying; fruitless; unsuccessful; as, an attempt. Quotations An enterprise. - Prescott (biology): Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile; as, an organ, stamen, ovule, etc. (medicine): Causing abortion; as, medicines. - Parr (medicine): Cutting short; as, abortive treatment of typhoid fever. abrupt noun (rfc-level, Noun at L4+ not in L3 POS section) (poetic) Something which is Adjective, abrupt. Over the vast abrupt. - Milton = verb (transitive) To tear off or asunder; to interrupt suddenly. Till death abrupts them. - Sir T. Browne adjective (more abrupt or abrupter, most abrupt or abruptest) Broken off; very steep or craggy, as rocks, precipices, banks; precipitous; as, places. Tumbling through ricks . - Thomson Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. The cause of your departure. - Shakespeare, Henry VI Part I, II-iii curt, Curt in manner; rude; uncivil; impolite. Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected. The party came to an end when the parents of our host arrived. The style, which hath many breaches. - B. Jonson (botany) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off; truncated. abscise verb (abscis, ing) (transitive) To cut off. (intransitive) (botany) To separate by means of abscission. abscission noun ((plural): abscissions) The act or process of cutting off. Quotations Not to be cured without the abscission of a member. - w:Jeremy Taylor, Jer. Taylor The state of being cut off. - Sir T. Browne rhetoric: A figure of speech employed when a speaker having begun to say a thing stops abruptly: thus, "He is a man of so much honor and candor, and of such generosity -- but I need say no more." (botany) The separation of a part at a predetermined location, such as a leaf at the base of the petiole. acarpous adjective (Botany): Not producing fruit; unfruitful acaulescent adjective (botany) Having no stem or caulis, or only a very short one concealed in the ground - Gray. accrescent adjective Growing; increasing. - Shuckford (botany) Growing larger after flowering - Gray accrete verb (accret, ing) (intransitive): To grow together, combine. Astronomers believe the Earth began to six billion years ago. (intransitive): To adhere; to grow (to); to be added. (transitive): To make adhere; to add. adjective Characterized by accretion; made up; as, matter. (botany) Grown together - Gray accumbent noun One who reclines at table. adjective Leaning or reclining, as the ancients did at their meals. Quotations The Roman ... posture in eating. - Arbuthnot (Botany): Lying against anything, as one part of a leaf against another leaf - Gray Quotations Accumbent cotyledons have their edges placed against the caulicle. - Eaton acerate noun (Chemistry): A combination of aceric acid with a salifiable base. adjective Acerose; needle-shaped. acerose adjective (botany) Having the nature of chaff; chaffy. acerous adjective (alternative spelling of, acerose) acetabuliform adjective (botany) Shaped like a saucer or shallow cup. achene noun (botany) A small, dry, indehiscent fruit, containing a single seed, as in the buttercup; -- called a naked seed by the earlier botanists achlamydeous adjective (botany) Naked; having no floral envelope, neither calyx nor corolla. achlorophyllous adjective (context, botany) not having chlorophyll and, hence, unable to engage in photosynthesis aciform adjective Shaped like a needle. acinaceous adjective (botany): Containing seeds or stones of grapes, or grains like them. acinaciform adjective (Botany): Scimeter-shaped; as an leaf. acinus noun (acini) (botany) One of the small grains or drupelets which make up some kinds of fruit, as the blackberry, raspberry, etc. (botany) A grapestone. (anatomy) One of the granular masses which constitute a racemose or compound gland, as the pancreas; also, one of the saccular recesses in the lobules of a racemose gland. - w:Richard Quain, Richard Quain. acotyledon noun (botany) A plant that has no cotyledons, as the dodder and all flowerless plants. acrogen noun (biology) any flowerless plant whose growth takes place at the tip of the main stem, especially the cryptogam ferns acrospire noun the sprout at the end of a seed when it begins to germinate (Webster) verb To put forth the first sprout actinomorphic adjective (botany) (i, of a flower) Having its petals arranged in a radially symmetric fashion. aculeus noun (plural aculei) A prickle growing on the bark, as in some brambles and roses. A sting. adhesion noun The ability of a substance to stick to an unlike substance. A feeling of attachment (e.g. an infant to its parents). An agreement to adhere (medicine) An abnormal union of surface by the formation of new tissue resulting from an inflammatory process. agglomerate noun A collection or mass. (geology) A mass of angular volcanic fragments united by heat; distinguished from conglomerate. verb (agglomerates, agglomerating, agglomerated) To wind or collect into a ball; hence, to gather into a mass or anything like a mass. adjective collect, Collected into a ball, heap, or mass. agrostology noun the study of grasses ALA initialism Alpha Linolenic Acid American Library Association Acacia Leadership Academy albumen noun (albumens, pl2=albumina, -) The white part of an egg; being mostly the protein albumin and water. alpine adjective Of or pertaining to the Alps, or to any lofty mountain; as, Alpine snows; Alpine plants. Like the Alps; lofty. ``Gazing up an Alpine height.'' --Tennyson. amendment noun An alteration or change for the better; correction of a fault or of faults; reformation of life by quitting vices. In public bodies; Any alteration made or proposed to be made in a bill or motion that adds, changes, substitutes, or omits. Correction of an error in a writ or process. An addition to and/or alteration of the United States Constitution, as in "The First Amendment guarantees the right of free speech." That which is added; that which is used to increase or supplement something. a soil anandrous adjective lacking stamens; devoid of male parts in plants androgyne noun A person who is androgynous. androgynous adjective Pertaining to a characteristic that is not definitively male or female. Names like Terry, Pat, and Jean are because they can be given to both men and women. A condition in which gender is unknown, ambivalent, indeterminate, or neuter. Possessing qualities of both sexes. Possessing both male and female sex organs. angiosperm noun (botany) A member of the plant group characterized by having ovules enclosed in an ovary; the angiosperms or flowering plants: the Angiospermae, Magnoliophyta, Magnoliopsida, etc. adjective (botany) pertaining to the angiosperms. anisotropic adjective (physics) Having properties that differ according to the direction of measurement; exhibiting anisotropy. The crystal has an structure, as it is stronger along its length than laterally. annual noun something that is published once a year adjective happening once every year. The meeting will be held on ... anther noun (botany) The pollen-bearing part of the stamen of a flower. apetalous adjective Having no petals. aphyllous adjective (botany) Having no leaves. appendage noun an external body part that projects from the body a natural prolongation or projection from a part of any organism a part that is joined to something larger arboreal adjective of, relating to, or resembling a tree arboriculture noun The branch of horticulture concerned with the planting and growth of trees aril noun A tissue surrounding the seed in certain fruits. ascending verb (present participle of, ascend) assimilation noun The act of assimilating or the state of being assimilated. The metabolic conversion of nutriments into tissue. (context, by extension) The absorption of new ideas into an existing cognitive structure. (linguistics) The modification of a sound such that it becomes similar to an adjacent sound. The adoption, by a minority group, of the customs and attitudes of the dominant culture. assurgent noun (heraldry) A man or beast rising out of the sea. attenuate verb (attenuat, ing) (transitive) To reduce in size, force, value, amount, or degree (transitive) To weaken (transitive) To rarefy (transitive) To reduce the virulence of a bacteria or virus (transitive) (electronics) To reduce the amplitude of an electrical signal adjective (botany, of leaves) Gradually tapering into a petiole-like extension toward the base. autogamy noun Self-fertilize, fertilization, the fertilizing pollen being derived from the same blossom as the pistil acted upon. avenaceous adjective Belonging to, or resembling, oats or the oat grasses. axil noun The angle or point of divergence between the upper side of a branch, leaf, or petiole, and the stem or branch from which it springs. axilla noun (plural: axillae) The armpit, or the cavity beneath the junction of the arm and shoulder. The angle or point of divergence between the upper side of a branch, leaf, or petiole, and the stem or branch from which it springs. axillary adjective Of or pertaining to the axilla or armpit; as, axillary gland, artery, nerve. Situated in, or rising from, an axil; of or pertaining to an axil. Axis proper noun the Axis The alliance group before and during World War II consisting of Germany, Italy, Japan, and allied countries.

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