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pollen
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Etymology
From Latin pollen (“fine flour”). Used by Linnaeus in the 18th century to describe the spores produced in the anthers of flowers.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɒlən/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɑlən/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɒlən
- Hyphenation: pol‧len
Noun
pollen (usually uncountable, plural pollens)
- A fine, granular substance produced in flowers.
- (botany) Pollen grains (microspores) produced in the anthers of flowering plants. [from mid 18th century]
- 2013 May–June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
- In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
- (obsolete) Fine powder in general, fine flour. [16th-century per OED]
- 1523–1525, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, Froissart's Chronicles, translation of original by Jean Froissart:
- and ther was good wyne of Gascoyne, […] as well of pollen, as of other vitailes
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
fine granular substance produced in flowers
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Verb
pollen (third-person singular simple present pollens, present participle pollening, simple past and past participle pollened)
- (transitive, poetic) To cover with, or as if with, pollen.
See also
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Danish
Etymology
Noun
pollen n (singular definite pollenet, plural indefinite pollen)
References
- “pollen” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Noun
pollen n (uncountable)
Usage notes
The common term in Dutch is stuifmeel. The term pollen is found in biology texts, but is furthermore in common use when identifying the causative agent of hay fever. In that sense, the word is often mistakenly construed as being plural (“Tranende, jeukende ogen en een loopneus: pollen zijn geen pretje”, Metro, 29 February 2016; “Er hangen al pollen in de lucht: hooikoortsseizoen is begonnen”, Het Laatste Nieuws, 10 January 2018; “Pollen kunnen nu al voor hooikoorts zorgen”, De Telegraaf, 22 December 2018).
Synonyms
Etymology 2
Verb
pollen
Conjugation
Etymology 3
Noun
pollen
French
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin pollen.
Pronunciation
Noun
pollen m (plural pollens)
Derived terms
See also
- palynologie
- palynologique
- palynologue
Further reading
- “pollen”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
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German
Verb
pollen (weak, third-person singular present pollt, past tense pollte, past participle gepollt, auxiliary haben)
Conjugation
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
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Latin
Norwegian Bokmål
Norwegian Nynorsk
Swedish
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