WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
te•pal
(tē′pəl, tep′əl),USA pronunciation n. [Bot.]
- Plant Biologyone of the divisions of a flower perianth, esp. one that is not clearly differentiated into petals and sepals, as in lilies and tulips.
- French tépale (1827), alteration of pétale petal, on the model of sépale sepal; coined by Augustin-Pierre de Candolle (1778–1841), Swiss botanist