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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ovate

Ovate \O"vate\, a. [L. ovatus, from ovum egg. See Oval.]

  1. Shaped like an egg, with the lower extremity broadest.

  2. (Bot.) Having the shape of an egg, or of the longitudinal section of an egg, with the broader end basal.
    --Gray.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ovate

1723, from assumed Latin plural Ovates, from Greek Ouateis "soothsayers, prophets," mentioned by Strabo as a third order in the Gaulish hierarchy, from Proto-Celtic *vateis, plural of *vatis, cognate with Latin vatis, Old Irish faith, Welsh ofydd. The modern word, and the artificial senses attached to it, are from the 18c. Celtic revival and the word appears first in Henry Rowlands.

ovate

1760, from Latin ovum "egg" (see ovum).

Wiktionary
ovate

a. 1 Shaped like an egg. 2 (context botany English) egg-shaped, with the broadest extremity near the base.

WordNet
ovate
  1. adj. of a leaf shape; egg-shaped with the broader end at the base

  2. rounded like an egg [syn: egg-shaped, elliptic, elliptical, oval, oviform, ovoid, prolate]

Wikipedia
Ovate

Oval, egg-shaped, with a tapering point, such as in the shape of leaves or other botanical features such as the stamen filaments.

Category:Plant morphology

Usage examples of "ovate".

The leaves are inversely ovate, lanceolate, villose, and slightly toothed.

An earnest discussion as to whether a certain leaf was ovate or lanceolate, whether a certain plant belonged to the species scandens or canadensis, was, in their eyes, convincing proof that the young brains were touched, and therefore NOT the young hearts.

He wrapped them in surgical tape with such care and style that they looked, even if stitchless and very slightly ovate, almost as pristine as new baseballs, white and clean.

The stickman sat up, stood, seemed to shiver, and then the yellow glow centered in his large, ovate eyes, and he kept that glow directed toward them as he pulled out the one chair with a three-fingered hand and sat down.

An earnest discussion as to whether a certain leaf was ovate or lanceolate, whether a certain plant belonged to the species scandens or canadensis, was, in their eyes, convincing proof that the young brains were touched, and therefore NOT the young hearts.

The leaves are nearly round, not ovate, foveolate, and the petioles – wait till I show you – it's resting now out of light –"