columella

American  

[kol-yuh-mel-uh] / ˌkɒl jəˈmɛl ə /

noun

Biology.

• columellae
  plural

1. 1. any of various small, columnlike structures of animals or plants; rod or axis.

   2. Mycology. a small central column of sterile tissue within the sporangium of certain fungi, liverworts, and mosses.

2. a small bone in the ear of amphibians, reptiles, and birds.

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columella British  

/ ˌkɒljʊˈmɛlə /

noun

1. biology

   1. the central part of the spore-producing body of some fungi and mosses

   2. any similar columnar structure

2. Also called: columella auris. a small rodlike bone in the middle ear of frogs, reptiles, and birds that transmits sound to the inner ear: homologous to the mammalian stapes

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• columellar
  adjective
• columellate
  adjective
• postcolumellar
  adjective
• pseudocolumellar
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• columellae
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of columella

1575–85; < Latin: small column, equivalent to colum- (variant of column-, stem of columna column ) + -ella -elle

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

columella columellae

A similar remark may be made relative to the form of the columella which Rostafinski, in his figures especially, would make diagnostic.

From The North American Slime-Moulds A Descriptive List of All Species of Myxomycetes Hitherto Reported from the Continent of North America, with Notes on Some Extra-Limital Species by Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride

Spire of shell prominent, aperture narrow, canal very short, columella crenelated; foot large.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

Shell with clouded purple longitudinal stripes; spire lengthened; inner lip chesnut-black; columella thickened, gibbous; base entire.

From Zoological Illustrations, Volume III or Original Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare, or Interesting Animals by William Swainson

Shell trochiform, with canaliculated aperture and twisted columella.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

Shell fusiform and solid, aperture elongated, columella folded; no operculum; eyes on sides of tentacles.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

The delicate, spindle-shaped columellae lie ventral to the tegmen tympani and squamosals, are spatulate distally, and have a broad basal attachment to the auditory region.

From Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca by William E. Duellman

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