Bot. [ad. mod.L. angīosperm-us (Hermann, 1690), f. Gr. ἀγγεῖον vessel, receptacle + -σπερμ-ος, adj. formative from σπέρμα, σπέρματ-, seed. (Gr. has also -σπέρματ-ος; cf. πολύ-σπερμος or πολυ-σπέρματ-ος many-seeded; whence angiospermous and -spermatous.)] A plant that has its seeds inclosed in a seed-vessel, as the poppy, apple, beech, etc.; opposed to gymnosperms or plants with naked seeds, as the pine.
1852. Ansted, Man. Geog. Sc., 320. Phanerogamous plants are therefore either Gymnosperms (naked seeded) or Angiosperms (covered-seeded).
1861. G. Bentham, Flora Hong-Kong, Introd. 23. The seed is enclosed in the pericarp in the majority of flowering plants, called therefore angiosperms.
