rə̇ˈseptə̇kəl, rēˈ-, -tēk- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin receptaculum, from receptare (iterative of recipere to receive) + -culum, suffix denoting an instrument — more at receive
1. : one that receives and contains something : container , repository
a metal receptacle to catch the sap — Hamilton Basso
the poet's mind is in fact a receptacle for seizing and storing up numberless feelings — T.S.Eliot
2. : a place of shelter
palatial gloomy chambers for parade … never constructed as receptacles — Robert Browning
3.
a. : an intercellular cavity containing oil, resin, or other secretion products
b. : the end of the flower stalk upon which the floral organs are borne and which is often somewhat enlarged (as in the composites) — called also torus
c. : an organized often stalked structure in a cryptogamous plant containing reproductive bodies : a modified branch bearing sporangia: as
(1) : a swollen tip of a thallus branch of a seaweed (as of the genus Fucus )
(2) : any of various envelopes or structures supporting the fructification of a fungus
(3) : an umbrella-shaped outgrowth of the thallus of various liverworts (as of the genus Marchantia ) that bears the sex organs : cupule
(4) : placenta 2b
4. : a permanently mounted female electrical fitting that contains the live parts of the circuit