Dictionary

bract en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

From Latin bractea (“a thin plate of metal; gold leaf”).

Meanings

1. A leaf or leaf-like structure from the axil out of which a stalk of a flower or an inflorescence arises.
   • In this vegetable monster the bractes, or divisions of the spike, become wonderfully enlarged; and are converted into leaves. 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, page 9:
   • When you peel away the bracts and reveal the soft heart, you have reached what Ms. Eury called the most prized part of the artichoke. 2026 May 11, Amanda Schupak, “How Healthy Are Artichokes?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • A Verticil or Whirl may be[…]Naked; that is without involucre, bracte or brittle. Bracted - or Involucred 1793, Thomas Martyn, The Language of Botany:
   • Great dense patches of them grew, four and five and six feet deep, impenetrable swathes of dark green bracts that advertised their danger. 2017, Benjamin Myers, The Gallows Pole, Bloomsbury, published 2019, page 31:

Forms

Deriveds

bractiform · bracteal · bractlet · bracted · bractless

Translations (29)

hu murvalevél (leaf or leaf-like structure) · it brattea (leaf or leaf-like structure) · ru прицве́тник (leaf or leaf-like structure) · pt bráctea (leaf or leaf-like structure) · el βράκτιο (leaf or leaf-like structure) · ca bràctea (leaf or leaf-like structure) · es bráctea (leaf or leaf-like structure) · cs listen (leaf or leaf-like structure) · de Tragblatt (leaf or leaf-like structure) · eo brakteo (leaf or leaf-like structure) · mi emiemi (leaf or leaf-like structure) · cmn 苞片 (leaf or leaf-like structure) · la bractea (leaf or leaf-like structure) · hu fellevél (leaf or leaf-like structure) · ro bractee (leaf or leaf-like structure) · hu előlevél (leaf or leaf-like structure) · bg прицветник (leaf or leaf-like structure) · mk прицветник (leaf or leaf-like structure) · cy bract (leaf or leaf-like structure) · pl przykwiatek (leaf or leaf-like structure) · nl schutblad (leaf or leaf-like structure) · fi suojuslehti (leaf or leaf-like structure) · fr bractée (leaf or leaf-like structure) · cy blodeulen (leaf or leaf-like structure) · ja 苞 (leaf or leaf-like structure) · hu murva (leaf or leaf-like structure) · ja 苞葉 (leaf or leaf-like structure) · mk плодна лушпа (leaf or leaf-like structure) · gl bráctea (leaf or leaf-like structure)

wikidata: Q729496