catkin

catkin

English

catkins

catkins

Etymology

From Middle Dutch katteken (“catkin”, literally “little cat”), equivalent to cat +‎ -kin. So named due to the resemblence of lengthier kinds to a kitten’s tail, or, perhaps more probably, the fine fur found on some catkins (compare the pictures, respectively). Cognate with German Kätzchen, modern Dutch katje.

Noun

catkin (plural catkins)

1. (botany) A type of inflorescence, consisting of an axis with many unisexual apetalous flowers along its sides, as in the willow and poplar.

Synonyms

• ament
• amentum

Coordinate terms

• raceme
• spike

Translations

botany: a type of inflorescence

Breton: bisig (br) m Chinese: Mandarin: 柔荑花序 (zh) (róutíhuāxù) Czech: jehněda (cs) f Dutch: katje (nl) n Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: norkko (fi), pajunkissa (fi) French: chaton (fr), iule (fr) Galician: amento m, candea (gl) f German: Kätzchen (de) n Greek: ανθήλη (el) f (anthíli), ίουλος (el) m (íoulos) Hungarian: barka (hu) Icelandic: rekill (is) m Irish: caitín m Italian: gattino (it) m, amento (it) m Japanese: 尾状花序 (bijō-kajo)

Korean: 버들강아지 (beodeulgang-aji) (beodeul-gangAji) Latin: iulus m Norwegian: Bokmål: rakle m, (willow) gåsunge m Nynorsk: rakle m, (willow) gåsunge m Polish: kotka (pl) f, bazia (pl) f Portuguese: amento m, amentilho m Romanian: ament (ro) m, mâțișor (ro) m Russian: серёжка (ru) f (serjóžka) Scottish Gaelic: clòimh-chat m, cluigean m Spanish: amento (es) m Swedish: hänge (sv) n Tagalog: laylaybulak Volapük: maänt Westrobothnian: kommel f, kommer f

Anagrams

• antick, natick