Meaning & use

palmate

adjective·Advanced

Describing a leaf whose lobes or leaflets spread out from a single point, like the fingers of an open hand.

See it in a sentence

A maple leaf is palmate, with pointed lobes radiating from the center of the leaf.

Botanists identified the plant by its distinctive palmate leaves and star-like shape.

A note on using this word

Palmate leaves contrast with pinnate leaves, in which leaflets are arranged along both sides of a central stem.

Words with a similar meaning

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Words with an opposite meaning

pinnate

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