nutletn.
/ˈnʌtlᵻt/, U.S. /ˈnətlət/ Botany.
A small nut or nutlike fruit.Often applied to the fruit of plants of the mint family ( Lamiaceae ( Labiatae)) or the birch family ( Betulaceae).
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > nut > [noun] > small
nutlet1848
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > nut > [noun] > other nuts
mani1604
nuciprune1682
breadnut?1740
buckeye1785
mockernut1804
breadnut1828
philopena1839
nutlet1848
Barcelona nut1851
buffalo-nut1857
urucuri1860
Queensland nut1870
1848 N. Amer. Rev. July 184 It may now and then be needful to adopt, or even to coin, a technical word for the description of some peculiar character or organ. Thus we see ‘nutlets’, which, so far as our recollection serves, is a species of botanico-philological fruit, first cultivated by Dr. Gray; but to which we do not demur.
1873 J. T. Moggridge Harvesting Ants 18 In this manner..entire calyces, containing the nutlets of Calaminth, are gathered.
1899 C. Reid Orig. Brit. Flora 135 The small size of its nutlets having caused it to be overlooked till specially searched for.
1923 E. W. Berry Tree Ancestors xi. 108 The seeds, really nutlets, are in some of the forms [of alder] winged and distributed by the wind.
1960 W. B. R. Laidlaw Guide Brit. Hardwoods i. 19 The small nutlets of alder and birch are also achenes.
1992 M. Ingrouille Diversity & Evol. Land Plants 168 Others are like the Lamiaceae with a gynobasic style and four nutlets.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1848