pol·len |ˈpälən|
noun
a fine powdery substance, typically yellow, consisting of microscopic grains discharged from the male part of a flower or from a male cone. Each grain contains a male gamete that can fertilize the female ovule, to which pollen is transported by the wind, insects, or other animals.ORIGIN mid 18th cent.: from Latin, literally ‘fine powder.’
— New Oxford American Dictionary 2nd edition
al·lergy |ˈalərjē|
noun ( pl. -gies)
a damaging immune response by the body to a substance, esp. pollen, fur, a particular food, or dust, to which it has become hypersensitive.
• informal an antipathy : their allergy to free enterprise.ORIGIN early 20th cent.: from German Allergie, from Greek allos ‘other,’ on the pattern of Energie ‘energy.’
— New Oxford American Dictionary 2nd edition
