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aril - 4 dictionary results

ar⋅il

[ar-il]
–noun Botany.
a usually fleshy appendage or covering of certain seeds, as of the bittersweet, Celastrus scandens, or the nutmeg.

Origin:
1785–95; < NL arillus; ML: grape seed, prob. erroneously for armillus, with same sense; cf. Upper It dial. armella, arma kernel, pit of a fruit, It animella edible insides of an animal < L anima lit., spirit (hence, the insides of a thing), with -illa dim. suffix; see anima


ar⋅il⋅loid, adjective
ar·il   (ār'əl)   
n.  A fleshy, usually brightly colored cover of a seed, arising from the hilum or funiculus.

[Medieval Latin arillus, grape seed.]
ar'iled adj., ar'il·late' (-lāt', -lĭt) adj.

Aril

Ar"il\, Arillus \A*ril"lus\, n. [From LL. arilli dry grapes, perh. fr. L. aridus dry: cf. F,. arille.] (Bot.) A exterior covering, forming a false coat or appendage to a seed, as the loose, transparent bag inclosing the seed or the white water lily. The mace of the nutmeg is also an aril. --Gray.
aril   (ār'əl)  Pronunciation Key 
A fleshy seed cover which arises from the funiculus (the stalk of the ovule). Arils, such the red berry-like arils of the yew, are often brightly colored to attract animals who eat them and disperse the seeds. The spice mace is the aril of the nutmeg seed.
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