peduncle noun. [pɪ'dʌŋk(ǝ)l] M18.
[mod. Latin pedunculus, from Latin ped-, pes foot: see -UNCLE.]
1. Botany. The main stalk of an inflorescence or infructescence to which the pedicels are attached. M18.

2. Zoology & Medicine. A stalk or stalklike projection in an animal; spec. (a) a pedicel (eye-stalk) of a crustacean; (b) the stalk by which a cirripede, brachiopod, etc., is attached to a foreign body; (c) the pedicle of a tumour; (d) any of several bundles of nerve fibres connecting two parts of the brain; (e) the narrowed fleshy base of the pectoral or caudal fin in certain fish, before the rays commence. L18.

■ peduncled adjective having a peduncle or peduncles L18.

■ peduncular adjective of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a peduncle E19.

■ pedunculate adjective having a peduncle or peduncles;

■ pedunculate oak, the common oak, Quercus robur, in which each group of acorns is borne on a long peduncle: M18.

■ pedunculated adjective = pedunculate M18.

■ peduncu'lation noun the condition of being pedunculate M19.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲