calyx

English
The calyx of a flower is usually green. Its parts are called sepals.
A human kidney with the major and minor calyces labelled.

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin calyx, from Ancient Greek κάλυξ (kálux, “case of a bud, husk”). Doublet of chalice and kelch.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈkæ.lɪks/, /ˈkeɪ.lɪks/
  • Rhymes: -ælɪks

Noun

calyx (plural calyces or calyxes)

  1. (botany) The outermost whorl of flower parts, comprising the sepals, which covers and protects the petals as they develop.
    Meronym: sepal
  2. (zoology, anatomy) Any of various cup-like structures.
    1. A chamber in the mammalian kidney through which urine passes.
    2. The crown containing the viscera of crinoids and similar echinoderms, entoprocts, and the polyps of some cnidarians.
    3. A funnel-shaped expansion of the vas deferens or oviduct of insects.
    4. A flattened cap of neuropil in the brain of insects.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κάλυξ (kálux, “case of a bud, husk”).

Pronunciation

Noun

calyx m (genitive calycis); third declension

  1. The bud, cup, or calyx of a flower or nut.
  2. A plant of two kinds, resembling the arum, perhaps the monk's hood.
  3. (by extension) The shell of fruits, pericarp.
  4. (by extension) An eggshell.
  5. A fitting on a Roman pipe

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative calyx calycēs
Genitive calycis calycum
Dative calycī calycibus
Accusative calycem calycēs
Ablative calyce calycibus
Vocative calyx calycēs

Derived terms

Descendants
  • → English: calyx
  • → French: calice
  • → Galician: cáliz
  • → Portuguese: cálice
  • → Spanish: cáliz

See also

References
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