tendril

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle French tendrillon (bud, shoot, cartilage), perhaps a diminutive of tendron (cartilage), from Old French tendre (soft) (see tender (adj.)), or else from Latin tendere (to stretch, extend) (see tender (v.)).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tendril (plural tendrils)

  1. (botany) A thin, spirally coiling stem that attaches a plant to its support.
  2. (zoology) A hair-like tentacle.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Adjective

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tendril (not comparable)

  1. Having the shape or properties of a tendril; thin and coiling; entwining.
    • 1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 275:
      Kissing the tendril fingers - at first because Mina, its mother, did not - but later with a rapture begot by its breath on her breast.

Anagrams

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