labiate

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   biology: having lips or lip-like parts, especially a flower whose corolla is divided into two lips

   The labiate flower provides a lower landing platform for visiting bees.

2. 2
   noun

   dated botany: a plant of the former family Labiatae, now called Lamiaceae or the mint family

   The aromatic herb is a labiate with a square stem.

3. 3
   verb

   rare phonetics: to articulate a sound with the lips; to labialize

   The speaker began to labiate the consonant with exaggerated care.

From Latin labium, 'lip,' + -ate. Botanical use describes a corolla shaped like upper and lower lips and formerly supplied the family name Labiatae. The rare verb applies the same lip image to speech articulation.

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