aril

noun

ar·il ˈa-rəl

ˈer-əl

: an exterior covering or appendage of some seeds (as of the yew) that develops after fertilization as an outgrowth from the ovule stalk

arillate

ˈa-rə-ˌlāt

ˈer-ə-

adjective

Examples of aril in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Pomegranate arils can be enjoyed fresh or can be frozen for long-term storage. —

Jillian Kubala, Health, 9 Oct. 2024 The burger is topped with a slightly sweet house housemade pomegranate sauce and crunchy pomegranate arils. —

Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 1 July 2024 Pomegranate juice and pomegranate liqueur are added to the foundational trio of tequila, lime, and orange liqueur—serve in a salty-sweet rimmed glass garnished with lime wheels and pomegranate arils. —

Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 28 Mar. 2024 Top with the chilled Prosecco and sprinkle with pomegranate arils. —

Stephanie Gravalese, Forbes, 26 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for aril

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin arillus, going back to Medieval Latin, "grape seed," borrowed from a central or southern Italian dialectal form (as Lazio dialect [Subiaco] aríłu "grape seed," 16th-century Sicilian arillu), going back to Vulgar Latin *arīllus, of obscure origin

Note: See Lessico etimologico italiano, vol. 3, columns 1151-55. The inclusion of arillus in the Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum (and hence the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae) is misleading, as the marginal note in the manuscript that uses the word (Biblioteca Ambrosiana C 243) is later than the manuscript itself (10th-llth centuries)—hence a Late Latin date for the word is not supportable, and the Medieval Latin instances (see Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch, Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources) are clearly latinizations of a vernacular word. Judging by the medieval attestation in glossaries and in works of both a medical and botanical nature, the Lessico suggests that the word may have first circulated in the Salerno school of medicine (Schola Medica Salernitana). Such a source corresponds well with the range of its outcomes in Romance, limited to Italian dialects from Lazio and Abruzzi south through Sicily. The date at which arillus became a technical botanical term is uncertain. It was familiar to Linnaeus, who uses it in a somewhat more general sense: "tunica propria exterior seminis, sponte secedens" ("the exterior coat of the seed proper, dropping off of its own accord") (Philosophia botanica [Stockholm, 1751], p. 54).

First Known Use

1794, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of aril was in 1794

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