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View synonyms for sepal

sepal

[ see-puhl ]

noun

, Botany.
  1. one of the individual leaves or parts of the calyx of a flower.


sepal

/ ˈsɛpələs; ˈsɛpəl /

noun

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


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.
  2. See more at flower


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Derived Forms

  • ˈsepalled, adjective

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Other Words From

  • sepaled sepalled adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of sepal1

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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of sepal1

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

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Example Sentences

Many edible flowers can be eaten whole, but some are best disassembled to avoid the inedible sepal, pistil, and stamens—basically the base of the flower and all those funky bits in the center.

White or palest rose of sepal and petal, the latter marked with purplish lines at the base.

The colour of sepal and petal pink, the throat yellow, the spreading disc magenta-crimson.

Harrisoniae in colour and size of sepal and petal; in general shape and in the hues of the labellum after L. purpurata.

The great dorsal sepal is white above, tender green in two shades below, with strong green lines ascending from the base.

The yellow ground colour shows itself only in a few narrow streaks upon sepal and petal, and in the base of the lip.

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SEPAsepaloid