Catkin
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A type of inflorescence, consisting of an axis with many unisexual apetalous flowers along its sides, as in the willow and poplar.
- 2 a cylindrical spikelike inflorescence wordnet
Etymology
From Middle Dutch katteken (“catkin”, literally “little cat”). So named due to the resemblance of lengthier kinds to a kitten's tail, or, perhaps more probably, the fine fur found on some catkins (compare the pictures). Cognate with German Kätzchen, modern Dutch katje. By surface analysis, cat + -kin.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.