corm

[ kawrm ]

noun

, Botany.

1. an enlarged, fleshy, bulblike base of a stem, as in the crocus.

corm

/ kɔːm /

noun

1. an organ of vegetative reproduction in plants such as the crocus, consisting of a globular stem base swollen with food and surrounded by papery scale leaves Compare bulb

corm

/ kôrm /

1. A fleshy underground stem that is similar to a bulb but stores its food as stem tissue and has fewer and thinner leaflike scales. The crocus and gladiolus produce new shoots from corms.
2. Compare bulb

Derived Forms

• ˈcormous, adjective

Other Words From

• cormlike adjective
• cormoid adjective
• cormous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of corm¹

1820–30; < New Latin cormus < Greek kormós a tree trunk with boughs lopped off, akin to keírein to cut off, hew

Word History and Origins

Origin of corm¹

C19: from New Latin cormus, from Greek kormos tree trunk from which the branches have been lopped

Example Sentences

Local media outlets reported Thursday that Corm had threatened to send the army into the service centers where employees are holding sit-ins if work didn’t restart.

From Washington Post

The caretaker minister of telecommunications, Johnny Corm, defended the spike, saying it is necessary to keep the sector afloat amid the country’s economic collapse.

From Washington Post

Internet outages and weak mobile signals plague the system, but Corm suggested the outlook for any improvement was bleak, with as many as half of the two firms' employees failing to turn up for work.

From Reuters

"Every day there is a robbery," Corm said.

From Reuters

Corm said the companies had to review prices to keep operating and avoid draining the state's already almost empty coffers.

From Reuters

Related Words

• corn