noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A long dry fruit (seed capsule), length more than twice the width, typical to cruciferous plants and consisting of two fused carpels that separate when ripe.
2. 2
   narrow elongated seed capsule peculiar to the family Cruciferae wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

anatomybollbotanyburrcapsulefollicle

Example

More examples

"The fruit of a cabbage is a silique."

Etymology

From French silique, from Latin siliqua (“a pod or husk, a very small weight or measure”). Doublet of siliqua.

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