noun · verb · 5 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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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈpɒlən/
General-American:/ˈpɑlən/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɒlən
CMU ARPABET:P AA1 L AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A fine, granular substance produced in flowers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Pollen grains (microspores) produced in the anthers of flowering plants.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Fine powder in general, fine flour.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To cover with, or as if with, pollen.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: poetic, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
the fine spores that contain male gametes and that are borne by an anther in a flowering plant
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: spore
Narrower terms: pollinium, ragweed pollen
History
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin pollen (“fine flour”), used by Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century to describe the spores produced in the anthers of flowers.
Across languages
Translations
93 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
pjalm
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Amharic:
የአበባ ዱቄት
(yäʾäbäba duḳet)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Arabic:
حُبُوبُ اللِّقَاح
(ḥubūbu l-liqāḥ)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Arabic:
حُبُوبُ الطَّلْع
(ḥubūbu ṭ-ṭalʕ)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Aragonese:
polen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Armenian:
ծաղկափոշի
(caġkapʻoši)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Asturian:
polen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Azerbaijani:
çiçək tozu
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Azerbaijani:
polen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Bashkir:
һеркә
(herkə)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Basque:
lore-hauts
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Basque:
polen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Bengali:
পরাগ
(porag)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Bhojpuri:
पराग
(parāg)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Bulgarian:
цветен прашец
(cveten prašec)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Bulgarian:
полен
(polen)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Catalan:
pol·len
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Chinese Cantonese:
花粉
(faa1 fan2)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Chinese:
花粉
(zh-min-nan)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Chinese Mandarin:
花粉
(huāfěn)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Chuvash:
шӑрка
(šărk̬a)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Czech:
pyl
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Danish:
pollen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Dutch:
stuifmeel
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Dutch:
pollen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Esperanto:
poleno
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Estonian:
õietolm
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Finnish:
siitepöly
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
French:
pollen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Galician:
pole
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Georgian:
მტვერი
(mṭveri)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
German:
Blütenstaub
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
German:
Pollen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Greek:
γύρη
(gýri)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Ancient Greek:
γῦρις
(gûris)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Gujarati:
પરાગ
(parāg)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Hawaiian:
ehu
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Hawaiian:
ʻehu
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Hebrew:
אִבקָה
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Hindi:
पराग
(parāg)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Hindi:
रेणुका
(reṇukā)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Hungarian:
pollen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Hungarian:
virágpor
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Icelandic:
frjókorn
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Ido:
poleno
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Indonesian:
polen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Indonesian:
serbuk sari
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Irish:
pailin
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Italian:
polline
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Japanese:
花粉
(kafun)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Kannada:
ಪರಾಗ
(parāga)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Khmer:
លំអង
(lumʼɑɑng)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Korean:
꽃가루
(kkotgaru)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Latin:
pollen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Latvian:
ziedputekšņi
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Latvian:
putekšņi
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Lithuanian:
žiedadulkė
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Malay:
debunga
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Malayalam:
പൂമ്പൊടി
(pūmpoṭi)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Māori:
puehu
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Māori:
hae
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Norwegian Bokmål:
pollen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Norwegian Nynorsk:
pollen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Occitan:
pollèn
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Polish:
pyłek
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Portuguese:
pólen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Punjabi:
ਪਰਾਗ
(parāg)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Romanian:
polen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Russian:
пыльца́
(pylʹcá)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Russian:
цве́тень
(cvétenʹ)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Serbo-Croatian:
по̀лен
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Serbo-Croatian:
пѐлуд
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Serbo-Croatian:
pòlen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Serbo-Croatian:
pèlud
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Slovak:
peľ
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Slovene:
cvetni prah
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Spanish:
polen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Swedish:
pollen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Tagalog:
mawo
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Tamil:
மகரந்தம்
(makarantam)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Telugu:
పరాగరేణువు
(parāgarēṇuvu)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Thai:
เรณู
(ree-nuu)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Thai:
ละอองเรณู
(lá-ɔɔng-ree-nuu)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Thai:
เกสร
(gee-sɔ̌ɔn)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Tocharian B:
spaitu
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Turkish:
çiçek tozu
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Turkish:
polen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Ukrainian:
пило́к
(pylók)
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Uzbek:
chang donacha
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Vietnamese:
phấn
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Vietnamese:
phấn hoa
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Volapük:
polen
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
Welsh:
paill
— fine granular substance produced in flowers
