Gynophore

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A stalk in certain plants that elevates the female reproductive organs above the rest of the flower
2. The slender stem-like structure in some flowers which raises the pistil to a higher position
3. A botanical feature consisting of a stalk that holds the female flower components separate from other floral parts

Etymology: Gynophore is a plain technical coinage built from two Greek elements. "Gyno-" comes from Greek "gyne", meaning "woman" or "female", and "-phore" comes from Greek "-phoros", meaning "bearing" or "carrying", from "pherein", "to bear". Put together, the word literally means "female-bearer", a name that fits the structure it describes: a stalk that holds the female parts of a flower aloft above the rest. The same pattern appears in other botanical terms. An "androphore" is the male counterpart, a stalk bearing the stamens, and "gynophore" was built to match it. Botanists coined such words in the modern scientific period, drawing on classical roots to name structures that ancient writers never described in these terms.