Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Spathe

Spathe , noun

[Latin spatha, Greek {not transcribed}: compare French spathe. See Spade for digging.]

(Botany) A special involucre formed of one leaf and inclosing a spadix, as in aroid plants and palms. See the Note under Bract, and Illust. of Spadix.

The name is also given to the several-leaved involucre of the iris and other similar plants.