columella

American  

[kol-yuh-mel-uh] / ˌkɒl yəˈmɛl ə /

noun

Biology.

PLURAL

columellae

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

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

Etymology

Origin of columella

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

Example Sentences

A. effusa may be distinguished from all others by the columella being nearly obsolete; this part existing only in the two terminal whorls of the spire.

From Project Gutenberg

A. Shell cinereous-white, with two narrow brown bands, spire elongated, straight; volutions seven, slightly ventricose, inner lip rosy, base of the columella straight, entire, aperture ovate-oblong.

From Project Gutenberg

Thallus without epidermis; capsule with a columella, short-pedicelled or sessile on the thallus.

From Project Gutenberg

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 Project Gutenberg

It is the cartilagenous part of the columella that connects with the external sound detecting mechanism.

From Project Gutenberg