Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One of the small saclike dilations composing a compound gland.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In botany: One of the small drupelets or berries of an aggregate baccate fruit, as the blackberry, etc., or the contained stone or seed. See cut under Rubus. A grape-stone.
  • noun In anatomy: Formerly, the smallest lobule of a gland, Now, generally, the smallest saccular subdivision of an acinose gland, several of which subdivisions make up a lobule. Also called alveolus. A lobule of the liver.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One of the small grains or drupelets which make up some kinds of fruit, as the blackberry, raspberry, etc.
  • noun A grapestone.
  • noun (Anat.) One of the granular masses which constitute a racemose or compound gland, as the pancreas; also, one of the saccular recesses in the lobules of a racemose gland.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun botany One of the small grains or drupelets which make up some kinds of fruit, as the blackberry, raspberry, etc.
  • noun botany A grape-stone.
  • noun anatomy One of the granular masses which constitute a racemose or compound gland, as the pancreas; also, one of the saccular recesses in the lobules of a racemose gland. - Richard Quain.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun one of the small sacs or saclike dilations in a compound gland
  • noun one of the small drupes making up an aggregate or multiple fruit like a blackberry

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, berry.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin acinus ("grape, grape-stone").

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