pollen

See also: Pollen and pol·len

English

Etymology

From Latin pollen (“fine flour”). Used by Linnaeus in the 18th century to describe the spores produced in the anthers of flowers.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɒlən/
• IPA^(key): /ˈpɑlən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlən
• Hyphenation: pol‧len

Noun

Pollen grains on a flower.

pollen (usually uncountable, plural pollens)

1. A fine granular substance produced in flowers. Technically a collective term for pollen grains (microspores) produced in the anthers of flowering plants. (This specific usage dating from mid 18th century.)
   • 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

     In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.

2. (obsolete) Fine powder in general, fine flour. (16th-century usage documented by the OED.)
   • "...and ther was good wyne of Gascoyne,... as well of pollen, as of other vitailes..." Froissart, Jean, 1338?-1410?; Berners, John Bourchier, Lord [1]

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bailey to this entry?)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• pollen analysis
• pollenarious
• pollen basket
• pollen count
• pollen counter

• pollen grain
• polleniferous
• pollenize, pollenise
• pollenlike
• pollen mother cell

• pollen parent
• pollen sac
• pollen tube
• polleny
• pollination
• sporopollen

Related terms

• pollinate

Translations

fine granular substance produced in flowers

• Ancient Greek: please add this translation if you can:
• Arabic: حُبُوب اللِّقَاح m pl (ḥubūb al-liqāḥ)
• Armenian: ծաղկափոշի (hy) (caġkapʻoši)
• Asturian: polen m
• Bashkir: һеркә (herkə)
• Basque: lore-hauts (eu), polen (eu)
• Bulgarian: цветен прашец m (cveten prašec), полен m (polen)
• Catalan: pol·len m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 花粉 (faa¹ fan²)

  Mandarin: 花粉 (zh) (huāfěn)

  Min Nan: 花粉 (zh-min-nan) (hoe-hún)

• Czech: pyl (cs) m
• Danish: pollen (da) n
• Dutch: stuifmeel (nl) n, pollen (nl) n
• Esperanto: poleno
• Estonian: õietolm
• Finnish: siitepöly (fi)
• French: pollen (fr) m
• Galician: pole m
• Georgian: მტვერი (mṭveri)
• German: Blütenstaub (de) m, Pollen (de) m pl
• Greek: γύρη (el) f (gýri)
• Hebrew: אִבקָה (he) f
• Hungarian: pollen (hu), virágpor (hu)
• Icelandic: frjókorn (is) n
• Ido: poleno (io)
• Irish: pailin f
• Italian: polline (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 花粉 (ja) (かふん, kafun)
• Korean: 꽃가루 (ko) (kkot-garu)
• Latin: pollen n
• Latvian: ziedputekšņi m pl, putekšņi m pl
• Lithuanian: žiedadulkė f
• Malay: debunga
• Maori: hae
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pollen n

  Nynorsk: pollen n

• Polish: pyłek (pl) m
• Portuguese: pólen (pt) m
• Romanian: polen (ro) n
• Russian: пыльца́ (ru) f (pylʹcá), цве́тень (ru) m (cvétenʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: по̀лен m, пѐлуд m

  Roman: pòlen (sh) m, pèlud (sh) m

• Slovak: peľ m
• Slovene: cvetni prah (sl) m
• Spanish: polen (es) m
• Swedish: pollen (sv) n
• Tagalog: mawo
• Telugu: పరాగరేణువు (te) (parāgarēṇuvu)
• Thai: เรณู (ree-nuu), ละอองเรณู (lá-ɔɔng-ree-nuu), เกสร (th) (gee-sɔ̌ɔn)
• Turkish: çiçek tozu (tr), polen (tr)
• Ukrainian: пило́к m (pylók)
• Vietnamese: phấn (vi), phấn hoa
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can

Verb

pollen (third-person singular simple present pollens, present participle pollening, simple past and past participle pollened)

1. (transitive, poetic) To cover with, or as if with, pollen.

See also

• palynologic
• palynological
• palynologist
• palynology

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Danish

Etymology

From Latin pollen.

Noun

pollen n (singular definite pollenet, plural indefinite pollen)

1. (botany) pollen

References

• “pollen” in Den Danske Ordbog

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔlə(n)/
• Hyphenation: pol‧len
• Rhymes: -ɔlən

Etymology 1

From Latin pollen.

Noun

pollen n (uncountable)

1. pollen

Usage notes

The common term in Dutch is stuifmeel. The term pollen is found in biology texts, but is furthermore in common use when identifying the causative agent of hay fever. In that sense, the word is sometimes mistakenly construed as being plural (“Tranende, jeukende ogen en een loopneus: pollen zijn geen pretje”, Metro, 29 February 2016; “Er hangen al pollen in de lucht: hooikoortsseizoen is begonnen”, Het Laatste Nieuws, 10 January 2018; “Pollen kunnen nu al voor hooikoorts zorgen”, De Telegraaf, 22 December 2018).

Synonyms

• stuifmeel

Etymology 2

From English poll.

Verb

pollen

1. (computing) to poll, to periodically check the status of a device or variable.

Inflection

Conjugation of pollen (weak)
infinitive	pollen
past singular	pollde
past participle	gepolld
infinitive	pollen
gerund	pollen n
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	poll	pollde
2nd person sing. (jij)	pollt	pollde
2nd person sing. (u)	pollt	pollde
2nd person sing. (gij)	pollt	pollde
3rd person singular	pollt	pollde
plural	pollen	pollden
subjunctive sing.1	polle	pollde
subjunctive plur.1	pollen	pollden
imperative sing.	poll
imperative plur.1	pollt
participles	pollend	gepolld
1) Archaic.

Etymology 3

Noun

pollen

1. (deprecated template usage) Plural form of pol

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔ.lɛn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

pollen m (plural pollens)

1. pollen

See also

• palynologie
• palynologique
• palynologue
• pollinique
• polliniser
• pollinisateur

Further reading

• “pollen”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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German

Verb

1. (computing) to poll, to periodically check the status of a device or variable.

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Latin

Alternative forms

• pollis

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“flour, dust”); compare with pulvis and Ancient Greek πάλη (pálē, “the finest meal”, “any fine dust”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpol.len/, [ˈpɔlːʲɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpol.len/, [ˈpɔlːen]

Noun

pollen n (genitive pollinis); third declension

1. (literally) flour, especially fine flour, milldust
2. (transferred sense) the (very) fine powder or dust of other things

   pollen piperis

   ground pepper [lit. powder of pepper]

   pollen tūris

   incense powder

   aliquid in pollen tundere

   to grind something into powder

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pollen	pollina
Genitive	pollinis	pollinum
Dative	pollinī	pollinibus
Accusative	pollen	pollina
Ablative	polline	pollinibus
Vocative	pollen	pollina

Synonyms

• (transferred sense: fine powder or dust): pulvis

Derived terms

• polenta
• pollināris (Classical)
• pollinārium (New Latin)
• pollinārius (Classical)
• pollinātus (Classical)
• pollinicus (post-Classical)

• pollinium (New Latin)
• pollinivorus (New Latin)
• pollinōdium (New Latin)
• pollinoīdēs (New Latin)
• pollinōsus (New Latin)

Descendants

• English: pollen
• French: pollen
• Portuguese: pólen
• Spanish: polen

References

• “pollen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pollen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pollĕn in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1,195/1.

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin pollen

Noun

pollen n (definite singular pollenet)

1. (botany) pollen

Related terms

• pollinere
• pollinering

References

• “pollen” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔlːn̩/

Etymology 1

From Latin pollen

Noun

pollen n (definite singular pollenet)

1. (botany) pollen

Related terms

• pollinere
• pollinering

Noun

pollen m

1. definite singular of poll

References

• “pollen” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Swedish

Noun

pollen n (uncountable)

1. (botany) pollen

Declension

Declension of pollen
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	pollen	pollenet	—	—
Genitive	pollens	pollenets	—	—