corm

[kawrm] /kɔrm/

noun, Botany

an enlarged, fleshy, bulblike base of a stem, as in the crocus.

Origin

1820-30; < Neo-Latin cormus < Greek kormós a tree trunk with boughs lopped off, akin to keírein to cut off, hew

Related forms

cormlike, adjective

cormoid, adjective

cormous, adjective

Examples from the web for corm

The root, also called a corm or tuber, as well as the petioles and leaves are consumed.
Rapid increases in shoot growth precede rapid increases in corm weight.
Although the above ground part of the plant is gone, below ground the corm is alive and well.
The new corm forms at the shoot base just above the old corm.

British Dictionary definitions for corm

corm

/kɔːm/

noun

an organ of vegetative reproduction in plants such as the crocus, consisting of a globular stem base swollen with food and surrounded by papery scale leaves Compare bulb (sense 1)

Derived Forms

cormous, adjective

Word Origin

C19: from New Latin cormus, from Greek kormos tree trunk from which the branches have been lopped

Word Origin and History for corm

1570s, from French corme, from Latin cornum "cornel-cherry" (but applied to service-berries in French); see cornel.

corm in Science

corm

(kôrm)
A fleshy underground stem that is similar to a bulb but stores its food as stem tissue and has fewer and thinner leaflike scales. The crocus and gladiolus produce new shoots from corms. Compare bulb, rhizome, runner, tuber.