Endosperms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A nutritive tissue in seeds that provides food for the developing embryo
2. a significant part of many seed types, playing a crucial role in plant reproduction
3. the tissue formed during seed development that can store starches, proteins, and oils for later use by the seedling

Etymology: "Endosperms" is simply the plural of "endosperm," a botanical term for the nutrient-storing tissue inside many seeds. The plural matters here because flowering plants do not all store their reserves the same way, so botanists often need to compare several seeds at once and talk about their endosperms collectively. The base word is built from two Greek elements: "endo-," meaning "within," and "sperm," from "sperma," meaning "seed." Together they describe the tissue lying inside the seed coat. The compound is a technical coinage from classical roots, created by botanists to name a structure they had been studying, rather than a word that ancient Greeks used for this purpose.

Synonyms: nutritive tissue