apocarpy
|a-po-car-py|
🇺🇸
/ˌæpəˈkɑrpi/
🇬🇧
/ˌæpəˈkɑːpi/
separate (free) carpels/fruit
Etymology
'apocarpy' originates from Greek elements via New Latin/Modern Latin: from Greek 'apo-' meaning 'away, separate' and 'karpos' meaning 'fruit'.
'apocarpy' was formed in botanical New Latin from the Greek components 'apo-' + 'karpos' (rendered in New Latin as elements like 'apocarp-') and entered English usage in 19th-century botanical literature as 'apocarpy' to denote the condition of free carpels.
Initially it referred specifically to the botanical notion of 'separate fruit/carpel'; over time the term has remained specialized with the same core botanical meaning describing free (not fused) carpels or fruits derived from them.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the condition of a flower or gynoecium in which the carpels are free and not fused (i.e., the state of being apocarpous).
In many primitive angiosperms, apocarpy is common, with each carpel developing separately.
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Noun 2
a fruit or aggregate fruit derived from two or more separate (free) carpels.
The strawberry is often cited as an example of apocarpy because its tiny achenes are produced from separate carpels.
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Last updated: 2025/09/19 00:52