petal
/ˈpɛtl̩/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.04 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
One of the component parts of the corolla of a flower. It applies particularly, but not necessarily only, when the corolla consists of separate parts, that is when the petals are not connately fused. Petals are often brightly colored.
noun
The labia (majora).
noun
verb
To spread out from, like the petals of a flower
Example Sentences
- "Dawn held her breath, fearing he'd notice the slight protrusion where her babe rested beneath her heart, but he barely paused as his mouth found the tiny jewel hidden within the dewy petals of her sex."
- "She is freezing cold. Sputtering. Big eyes wide and wet and red. Too shocked even to cry. 'It's okay, petal, it's okay.'"
- "anger against the men who had burdened her body with a lead shield of detestation for its blood, let loose without her will and its need against which she clenched her knees to her growing breasts, trying to clasp deep away from her hand that new soft wedge of hair, those lips that petaled out to her dreams."
- "With his forefinger, he curled one of the ringlets that petaled against Malou's forehead."
- "In the park adjacent to the library, following a winding path, she saw ahead a fountain surrounded by a reflecting pool, and she walked to it and sat on one of the benches facing the water that flowered up in numerous thin streams, petaling the air with silver droplets."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peth₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *pet-der. Proto-Hellenic *pétalos Ancient Greek πέταλον (pétalon)lbor. English petal Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πέταλον (pétalon), from πέταλος (pétalos, “broad, flat”), from Proto-Hellenic *pétalos, from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out”), whence Latin pandō and Proto-Germanic *faþmaz (“embrace”) (English fathom).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.