sepal

[ see-puhl ]
See synonyms for sepal on Thesaurus.com
nounBotany.
  1. one of the individual leaves or parts of the calyx of a flower.

Origin of sepal

1
<New Latin sepalum (1790), irregular coinage based on Greek sképē covering and Latin petalumpetal

Other words from sepal

  • sepaled, sepalled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sepal in a sentence

  • The calyx is composed of five sepals, the corolla of four or five lobes, and the stamens are attached to the corolla.

    The Sea Shore | William S. Furneaux
  • The flowers are mostly small and white, with five sepals (when present), five petals, and five stamens.

    The Sea Shore | William S. Furneaux
  • It has a creeping woody rootstock, and a rough angular stem; and the petals are generally but little longer than the sepals.

    The Sea Shore | William S. Furneaux
  • Polysepalous, pol-i-sep′a-lus, adj. having the sepals separate from each other.

  • Petals veined, sepals dotted, with crimson—the underside of both heavily stained.

    The Woodlands Orchids | Frederick Boyle

British Dictionary definitions for sepal

sepal

/ (ˈsɛpəl) /


noun
  1. any of the separate parts of the calyx of a flower

Origin of sepal

1
C19: from New Latin sepalum: sep-, from Greek skepē a covering + -alum, from New Latin petalum petal

Derived forms of sepal

  • sepalled or sepalous (ˈsɛpələs), adjective

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

Scientific definitions for sepal

sepal

[ pəl ]


  1. One of the usually separate, green parts that surround and protect the flower bud and extend from the base of a flower after it has opened. Sepals tend to occur in the same number as the petals and to be centered over the petal divisions. In some species sepals are colored like petals, and they can even be indistinguishable from petals, as in the lilies (in what are called tepals). In some groups, such as the poppies, the sepals fall off after the flower bud opens. See more at flower.

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