spathen.
/speɪð/, U.S. /speɪð/ 1. Botany. A large bract or sheathing-leaf enveloping the inflorescence (usually a spadix) of certain plants, as arums, palms, etc., in such a way as completely to enclose it before expansion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > leaf > bract, scale, palea, or spathe > [noun]
huskc1400
hosea1450
pannicle1672
surfoil1672
squama1738
palea1753
spatha1753
pelt1759
pelta1760
spath1763
bract1771
scale1776
spathe1785
scalelet1787
glume1789
ramentum1793
rament1813
paleola1829
bracteole1830
bractlet1835
glumelle1836
palea1836
pale1847
periphyll1858
bracket1860
glumella1861
glumellule1861
lodicule1864
bract-sheath1870
palet1871
palea1875
pale1890
prophyllum1890
hypsophyll1895
pale1900
prophyll1902
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xiv. 160 These [genera]..agree in having a Spathe or sheath instead of a calyx.
1793 T. Martyn Lang. Bot. sig. S2v A Spathe may be—one-valved, or two-valved [etc.].
1811 A. T. Thomson London Dispensatory ii. 59 The spathe is erect,..covering the fruit till it is nearly ripe and then dropping.
1834 Penny Cycl. II. 371/2 Bows made from the spath (σπαθη) of the palm.., six feet long.
1848 R. Tyas Favourite Field Flowers 1st Ser. 3 Near the summit of the flower-stalk is a spathe which originally enveloped the bud.
1870 Zoologist 5 2354 A singular species of Arum, with long curling horns extending from its lurid spathes.
1889 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 25 184/1 The spath is thrown up from the tuber at a different period.
2. Zoology. A spatulate or spoon-shaped part, process, etc.
ΚΠ
1891 in Cent. Dict.
Derivatives
spathed adj. having a spathe (Webster, 1864).
ˈspatheful n. such a number or quantity as fills a spathe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > leaf > bract, scale, palea, or spathe > [noun] > spatheful
spatheful1888
1888 G. Allen in Good Words 385 The entire spatheful of pollen-bearing flowers.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1785