pinnule
noun
Forms pinnules
- noun (botany) Any of the ultimate leaflets of a bipinnate or tripinnate leaf; a subleaflet.
- noun (zoology) A part or an organ which resembles the barb of a feather, particularly the side branches on the stalks of crinoids; Any of the lateral divisions of the finger-like stalks of an encrinite.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin pinnula.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of the small divisions of a decompound frond or leaf. See Illust. of Bipinnate leaf, under Bipinnate.
- noun Any one of a series of small, slender organs, or parts, when arranged in rows so as to have a plumelike appearance; as, a pinnule of a gorgonia; the pinnules of a crinoid.
Etymology [L. pinnula, dim. of pinna feather: cf. F. pinnule.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pinnule”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details