Bract

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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."

  2. 2
    a modified leaf or leaflike part just below and protecting an inflorescence wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
bladebracteolebractletcotyledonflagfloral leaf

Example

More examples

"In this vegetable monster the bractes, or divisions of the spike, become wonderfully enlarged; and are converted into leaves."

Etymology

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

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.