tendril
/ˈtɛn.dɹəl/ noun, adjective
Forms tendrils
- noun (botany) A thin, spirally coiling stem that attaches a plant to its support.
- noun (zoology) A hair-like tentacle.
- noun (by extension) Anything shaped like a tendril or coil.
- adjective Having the shape or properties of a tendril; thin and coiling; entwining.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle French tendrillon (“bud, shoot, cartilage”), perhaps a diminutive of tendron (“cartilage”), from Old French tendre (“soft”) (see tender (adjective)), or else from Latin tendere (“to stretch, extend”) (see tender (verb)).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A slender, leafless portion of a plant by which it becomes attached to a supporting body, after which the tendril usually contracts by coiling spirally.
- adjective Clasping; climbing as a tendril. [R.] Dyer.
Etymology [Shortened fr. OF. tendrillon, fr. F. tendre tender; hence, properly, the tender branch or spring of a plant: cf. F. tendrille. See Tender, a., and cf. Tendron.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tendril”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details