palmate
English
Etymology
From Latin palmātus (“hand-shaped”), by extension (as palma acquired the meaning "palm tree"), "palm-leaf shaped".
Adjective
palmate (not comparable)
- (chiefly botany) Having three or more lobes or veins arising from a common point.
- Although palmate leaves are typical of most Western maples, a number of species have leaves without lobes.
- (botany, of leaves) Having more than three leaflets arising from a common point, often in the form of a fan.
- 1909, Eleanor Stockhouse Atkinson, “In the Tree Tops”, in The How and Why Library:
- The horse chestnut, buckeye and hickory trees have palmate leaves. That is, the broad oval leaflets are all set around the tip of a common leaf stem, spreading in a circle, like the ribs of a palm leaf fan.
- (rare) Having webbed appendage; palmated.
- The Palmate Newt is a common Western European amphibian.
- (rare) Hand-like; shaped like a hand with extended fingers
Usage notes
- The word is rare outside of technical writing, and hardly ever qualifies things other than leaves.
- A compound leaf with more than three leaflets (trifoliate) radiating from the same point is more usually called palmate or palmately compound to avoid ambiguity.
- While "palmated" is a more usual term when referring to webbed appendages, "palmate" is often found in zoological nomenclature as the Latin term for both meanings is palmatus.
Derived terms
Translations
botany: having three or more lobes or veins arising from a common point
|
botany: having more than three leaflets arising from a common point
|
See also
Noun
palmate (plural palmates)
- (chemistry) A salt or ester of ricinoleic acid (formerly called palmic acid); a ricinoleate.
Usage notes
- Used primarily as part of the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients
Derived terms
Italian
Latin
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.