Pollen Meaning
/ˈpɒlən/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA fine, granular substance produced in flowers.
nounPollen grains (microspores) produced in the anthers of flowering plants.
Sentence Examples
I'm allergic to pollen.
I am allergic to pollen.
Probably you are allergic to pollen or dust.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the warm season, bees collect ____ from blooming flowers to produce honey.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The high ____ count in spring caused many allergy sufferers to experience sneezing and watery eyes.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual."
— 2013 May–June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
"and ther was good wyne of Gascoyne,[…]as well of pollen, as of other vitailes"
— 1523–1525, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, Froissart's Chronicles, translation of original by Jean Froissart:
"The bran, pollen and gurgions of this grain will be profitable to the miller; […]"
— 1796, C. Lorimer, A Letter to the Honourable the Corn Commitee, on the Importation of Rough Rice, as a Supplement to Wheat Flour, London: […] T[homas] Becket, […], →OCLC, page 5:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the warm season, bees collect ____ from blooming flowers to produce honey.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The high ____ count in spring caused many allergy sufferers to experience sneezing and watery eyes.