Standard Lemma guide

bract

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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A leaf or leaf-like structure from the axil out of which a stalk of a flower or an inflorescence arises.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a modified leaf or leaflike part just below and protecting an inflorescence

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: husk

Narrower terms: epicalyx, false calyx, calycle, calyculus, bracteole, bractlet, spathe, involucre, glume

History

Etymology

From Latin bractea (“a thin plate of metal; gold leaf”).

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: прицветник (pricvetnik) — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Catalan: bràctea — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Chinese Mandarin: 苞片 (bāopiàn) — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Czech: listen — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Dutch: schutblad — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Esperanto: brakteo — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Finnish: suojuslehti — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • French: bractée — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Galician: bráctea — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • German: Tragblatt — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Greek: βράκτιο (vráktio) — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Hungarian: murva — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Hungarian: murvalevél — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Hungarian: fellevél — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Hungarian: előlevél — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Italian: brattea — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Japanese: 苞 (hō) — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Japanese: 苞葉 (hōyō) — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Latin: bractea — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Macedonian: прицветник (pricvetnik) — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Macedonian: плодна лушпа (plodna lušpa) — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Māori: emiemi — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Polish: przykwiatek — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Portuguese: bráctea — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Romanian: bractee — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Russian: прицве́тник (pricvétnik) — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Spanish: bráctea — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Welsh: bract — leaf or leaf-like structure
  • Welsh: blodeulen — leaf or leaf-like structure