1. a part inside a seed that looks like a small leaf, which the developing plant uses as a store of food. Cotyledons are the first parts of the seed to appear above the ground when it begins to grow.Topics
   Word Originmid 16th cent. (denoting a patch of villi on the placenta of mammals): from Latin, ‘navelwort’ (which has cup-shaped leaves), from Greek kotulÄ“dōn ‘cup-shaped cavity’, from kotulÄ“ ‘cup’.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲