bract

[brakt]
noun Botany.
a specialized leaf or leaflike part, usually situated at the base of a flower or inflorescence.

Origin:
1760–70; earlier bractea < Latin: a thin plate of metal

brac·te·al [brak-tee-uhl] , adjective
bract·ed, adjective
bract·less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To bract
Collins
World English Dictionary
bract (brækt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
a specialized leaf, usually smaller than the foliage leaves, with a single flower or inflorescence growing in its axil
 
[C18: from New Latin bractea, Latin: thin metal plate, gold leaf, variant of brattea, of obscure origin]
 
'bracteal
 
adj
 
'bractless
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Bract is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

bract
in botany, "small leaf at the base of a flower," from Mod.L., from L. bractea, lit. "thin metal plate," of unknown origin. Related: Bracteal; bracteate.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
bract   (brākt)  Pronunciation Key 
A modified leaf growing just below a flower or flower stalk. Bracts are generally small and inconspicuous, but some are showy and petallike, as the brightly colored bracts of bougainvillaea or the white or pink bracts of flowering dogwoods.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The primary bract usually exceeds the inflorescence.
Behind each scale is a bract, a small, flat modified leaf.
Anthracnose may also occur as a bract blight, with pink to reddish spots
  forming on infected bracts.
The bract is slightly longer than the terminal spike.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT