pollen

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the fine powder produced by flowers that contains male reproductive cells

   Bees carried pollen from one flower to another.

2. 2
   noun

   fine powdery material, especially flour-like dust

   A yellow pollen settled on the windowsill after the storm.

3. 3
   verb

   to cover or dust with pollen

   The lilies pollened the tablecloth with orange grains.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Pollen is the Latin word for “fine powder” or “flour.” English first used it with that general meaning in the early 16th century and adopted it as a botanical term in the early 18th century.

Learned borrowing from Latin pollen, "fine flour." Linnaeus used it in botany for the fine reproductive grains produced in flower anthers, preserving the older image of flour-like powder.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary