pistil
noun
Forms pistils
- noun (botany) A discrete organ in the center of a flower capable of receiving pollen and producing a fruit, it is divided into an ovary, style and stigma. “Some plant species have more than one pistil per flower.”
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French pistil. Doublet of pestle and pistillum.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An epistle. [Obs.]
- noun The seed-bearing organ of a flower. It consists of an ovary, containing the ovules or rudimentary seeds, and a stigma, which is commonly raised on an elongated portion called a style. When composed of one carpel a pistil is simple; when composed of several, it is compound. See Illust. of Flower, and Ovary.
Etymology [L. pistillum, pistillus, a pestle: cf. F. pistil. See Pestle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pistil”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details