bract

[ brakt ]

noun

, Botany.

1. a specialized leaf or leaflike part, usually situated at the base of a flower or inflorescence.

bract

/ brækt /

noun

1. a specialized leaf, usually smaller than the foliage leaves, with a single flower or inflorescence growing in its axil

bract

/ brăkt /

1. 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.

Derived Forms

• ˈbracteal, adjective
• ˈbractless, adjective

Other Words From

• brac·te·al [brak, -tee-, uh, l], adjective
• bracted adjective
• bractless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bract¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bract¹

C18: from New Latin bractea , Latin: thin metal plate, gold leaf, variant of brattea , of obscure origin

Example Sentences

The real flowers are small, yellow and appear at the tip of the stem surrounded by the bract.

From Seattle Times

Perhaps a tool could be invented that would firmly hold each bract while one scrapes the flesh with teeth, similar to asparagus thongs or little forks for holding a boiled ear of sweet corn.

From New York Times

Should you need reminding, the anthurium is that plastic-y looking plant with a fingerlike spadix rising out of a flat shiny red bract, which has been referred to, for reasons that require no explanation, as “penis on a platter.”

From New York Times

Instead it is achieved by breeding to increase the red pigmentation in the layers of bract cells.

From Washington Post

Visitors get to see what the wildling looks like, a tall, leggy bush with bract clusters isolated at the end of long branches.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• frond
• needle
• petal
• stalk