radicle

[ rad-i-kuhl ]

noun

1. Botany.
   1. the lower part of the axis of an embryo; the primary root.
   2. a rudimentary root; radicel or rootlet.
2. Chemistry. (formerly) radical ( def 15 ).
3. Anatomy. a small rootlike part or structure, as the beginning of a nerve or vein.

radicle

/ ˈrædɪkəl /

noun

1. botany
   1. part of the embryo of seed-bearing plants that develops into the main root
   2. a very small root or rootlike part
2. anatomy any bodily structure resembling a rootlet, esp one of the smallest branches of a vein or nerve
3. chem a variant spelling of radical

radicle

/ răd′ĭ-kəl /

1. The part of a plant embryo that develops into a root. In most seeds, the radicle is the first structure to emerge on germination.
2. A small anatomical structure, such as a fibril of a nerve, that resembles a root.

Word History and Origins

Origin of radicle¹

1665–75; < Latin rādīcula small root, equivalent to rādīc- (stem of rādīx ) root ¹ + -ula -ule

Word History and Origins

Origin of radicle¹

C18: from Latin rādīcula a little root, from rādīx root

Example Sentences

But instead of having just one root, most plants have millions of individual roots, each with a single radicle.

From The Guardian

Seeds in 2 rows in each cell, rounded, broadly winged; cotyledons accumbent; radicle short.—A low annual, with once or twice pinnatifid leaves and leafy-bracteate racemes of yellow flowers.

From Project Gutenberg

At the extremity most remote from the hilum, as the embryo, or inverted with respect to the seed, as the radicle.

From Project Gutenberg

Darwin found, moreover, by experiment, that, when the tip of a radicle is burnt or cut, "it transmits an influence to the upper adjoining part, causing it to bend away from the affected side."

From Project Gutenberg

Venous emboli are those which approach the heart by the peripheral veins of the body or the pulmonary veins, and the liver by the radicles of the portal vein.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• essence
• foundation
• heart
• origin
• seed
• soul
• source
• stem
• stuff