The basal or lowest portion of a stem or plant structure, sometimes used in botanical terminology.
From 'bash-' (base) + '-yle' (from Greek 'hyle' meaning wood or matter). This botanical term combines the concept of 'base' with the Greek term for plant material.
Plant scientists needed a word for the very bottom part of a plant stem, so they combined Greek and Latin roots—it's a great example of how scientific language grows as scientists need to name new things they discover.
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