lamella

[ luh-mel-uh ]
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noun,plural la·mel·lae [luh-mel-ee], /ləˈmɛl i/, la·mel·las.
  1. a thin plate, scale, membrane, or layer, as of bone, tissue, or cell walls.

  2. Botany.

    • an erect scale or blade inserted at the junction of the claw and limb in some corollas and forming a part of their corona or crown.

    • (in mosses) a thin sheet of cells standing up along the midrib of a leaf.

  1. Mycology. gill1 (def. 2).

  2. Building Trades. a member of wood, metal, or reinforced concrete, joined in a crisscross pattern with other lamellae to form a vault.

  3. Ophthalmology. a small disk of gelatin and glycerin mixed with a medicinal substance, used as a medicament for the eyes.

Origin of lamella

1
1670–80; <Latin lāmella, diminutive of lāminalame2

Words Nearby lamella

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How to use lamella in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lamella

lamella

/ (ləˈmɛlə) /


nounplural -lae (-liː) or -las
  1. a thin layer, plate, or membrane, esp any of the calcified layers of which bone is formed

  2. botany

    • any of the spore-bearing gills of a mushroom

    • any of the membranes in a chloroplast

    • Also called: middle lamella a layer of pectin cementing together adjacent cells

  1. one of a number of timber, metal, or concrete members connected along a pattern of intersecting diagonal lines to form a framed vaulted roof structure

  2. any thin sheet of material or thin layer in a fluid

Origin of lamella

1
C17: New Latin, from Latin, diminutive of lāmina thin plate

Derived forms of lamella

  • lamellar, lamellate (ˈlæmɪˌleɪt, -lɪt, ləˈmɛleɪt, -lɪt) or lamellose (ləˈmɛləʊs, ˈlæmɪˌləʊs), adjective
  • lamellarly or lamellately, adverb
  • lamellated, adjective
  • lamellation, noun
  • lamellosity (ˌlæməˈlɒsɪtɪ), noun

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