Definitions

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

  • noun A fleshy, usually brightly colored cover of a seed, usually arising from the funiculus.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In botany, a term variously applied to the accessory coverings or appendages of seeds.

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

  • noun (Bot.) A exterior covering, forming a false coat or appendage to a seed, as the loose, transparent bag inclosing the seed of the white water lily. The mace of the nutmeg is also an aril.

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

  • noun A tissue surrounding the seed in certain fruits.

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

  • noun fleshy and usually brightly colored cover of some seeds that develops from the ovule stalk and partially or entirely envelopes the seed

Etymologies

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

[Medieval Latin arillus, grape seed.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • An aril (or arillus) is any specialized outgrowth from the funiculus (attachment point of the seed) (or hilum) that covers or is attached to the seed. It is sometimes applied to any appendage or thickening of the seed coat in flowering plants, such as the edible parts of the mangosteen and pomegranate fruit, or the mace of the nutmeg seed.

    Wikipedia - Aril

    November 24, 2008

  • The letters A, I, L, and R can form six different words: aril, lair, liar, lira, rail, and rial. Are there any other sets of four letters that have this property?

    May 15, 2010

  • alir is an Indonesian word meaning flow.

    May 15, 2010

  • It's basically the seed coat covering the actual seed coat, which is covering the seed.

    December 27, 2010