pistil

American  

[pis-tl] / ˈpɪs tl /

noun

Botany.

1. the ovule-bearing or seed-bearing female organ of a flower, consisting when complete of ovary, style, and stigma.

2. such organs collectively, where there are more than one in a flower.

3. a gynoecium.

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pistil British  

/ ˈpɪstɪl /

noun

1. the female reproductive part of a flower, consisting of one or more separate or fused carpels; gynoecium

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pistil Scientific  

/ pĭs′təl /

1. One of the female reproductive organs of a flower, consisting of a single carpel or of several carpels fused together. A flower may have one pistil or more than one, though some flowers lack pistils and bear only the male reproductive organs known as stamens.

2. See more at carpel flower

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pistil Cultural  

1. The female part of a plant. In flowering plants, it is at the center of the flower. When fertilized with pollen, the pistil develops into fruit.

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Etymology

Origin of pistil

1570–80; earlier pistillum, special use of Latin pistillum pestle

Compare meaning

How does pistil compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• pistil vs. carpel

Example Sentences

The study described how a plant's floral tubes produce volatile compounds to sterilize their stigma, the part of the pistil that collects pollen, to protect against attack by pathogens.

From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2024

There were several Blooms; or perhaps we should think of a pistil and its petals.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 16, 2019

Goethe recognized that all the parts of a flower, from pistil to sepal, are modified leaves.

From Nature • Aug. 5, 2019

Botanists sometimes call a single carpel or several fused carpels a pistil.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

Suddenly, the world opened up for her like one of her imperial tulips and revealed its evil yellow pistil.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison