Standard Lemma guide

achene

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /əˈkiːn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iːn
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 K IY1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A small, dry, indehiscent fruit, containing a single seed, as in the buttercup.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: achenium, spermidium, naked seed

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

small dry indehiscent fruit with the seed distinct from the fruit wall

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fruit

Narrower terms: samara, key fruit, key

History

Etymology

From French achène and its source, New Latin achena, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “a-”) + χαίνω (khaínō, “to gape”).

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: aqueni — small dry fruit
  • Czech: nažka — small dry fruit
  • Dutch: dopvrucht — small dry fruit
  • Esperanto: akeno — small dry fruit
  • Finnish: pähkylä — small dry fruit
  • French: akène — small dry fruit
  • German: Achäne — small dry fruit
  • German: Nüsschen — small dry fruit
  • Hungarian: kaszat — small dry fruit
  • Irish: aicéin — small dry fruit
  • Italian: achenio — small dry fruit
  • Korean: 수과 (sugwa) — small dry fruit
  • Lombard: achénio — small dry fruit
  • Norwegian: akene — small dry fruit
  • Persian: فندقه (fandoqe) — small dry fruit
  • Polish: niełupka — small dry fruit
  • Portuguese: aquênio — small dry fruit
  • Portuguese: aquénio — small dry fruit
  • Romanian: achenă — small dry fruit
  • Russian: семя́нка (semjánka) — small dry fruit
  • Spanish: aquenio — small dry fruit
  • Swedish: nötfrukt — small dry fruit
  • Tagalog: binhimbunga — small dry fruit
  • Turkish: aken — small dry fruit
  • Welsh: achen — small dry fruit
Real reading context

achene in complete knowledge articles