Xylem - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: Xylem

Browse Nearby Entries

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

xy·lem

Audio Help [zahy-luh

m, -lem] Pronunciation Key

–noun Botany.

a compound tissue in vascular plants that helps provide support and that conducts water and nutrients upward from the roots, consisting of tracheids, vessels, parenchyma cells, and woody fibers.

[Origin: 1870–75; < G, equiv. to Gk xýl(on) wood + -éma (see phloem)

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Xylem

To learn more about Xylem visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

xy·lem Audio Help (zī'ləm) Pronunciation Key
n. The supporting and water-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting primarily of tracheids and vessels; woody tissue.

[German, from Greek xulon, wood.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
xylem

"woody tissue in higher plants," 1875, from Ger. Xylem, coined from Gk. xylon "wood," of unknown origin.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

xylem
noun
the woody part of plants: the supporting and water-conducting tissue, consisting primarily of tracheids and vessels

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

xylem Audio Help (zī'ləm) Pronunciation Key

(click for larger image in new window)

A tissue in vascular plants that carries water and dissolved minerals from the roots and provides support for softer tissues. Xylem consists of several different types of cells: fibers for support, parenchyma for storage, and tracheary elements for the transport of water. The tracheary elements are arranged as long tubes through which columns of water are raised. In a tree trunk, the innermost part of the wood is dead but structurally strong xylem, while the outer part consists of living xylem, and beyond it, layers of cambium and phloem. See more at cambium , capillary action. Compare phloem.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
xylem [(zeye-luhm)]

The system of vessels that transports water in a plant. (See phloem.)

[Chapter:] Life Sciences

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Xylem

Xy"lem\, n. [Gr. xy`lon wood.] (Bot.) That portion of a fibrovascular bundle which has developed, or will develop, into wood cells; -- distinguished from phlo["e]m.

Browse Nearby Entries: