columella

[ kol-yuh-mel-uh ]

/ ˌkɒl yəˈmɛl ə /

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noun, plural col·u·mel·lae

[kol-yuh-mel-ee]. /ˌkɒl yəˈmɛl i/. Biology.

any of various small, columnlike structures of animals or plants; rod or axis.
Mycology. a small central column of sterile tissue within the sporangium of certain fungi, liverworts, and mosses.

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

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Origin of columella

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

OTHER WORDS FROM columella

col·u·mel·lar, adjectivecol·u·mel·late

[kol-yuh-mel-it, -eyt], /ˌkɒl yəˈmɛl ɪt, -eɪt/, adjectivepost·col·u·mel·lar, adjectivepseu·do·col·u·mel·lar, adjective

Words nearby columella

columbous, Columbus, Columbus Air Force Base, Columbus, Christopher, Columbus Day, columella, columelliform, column, columnar, columnar epithelium, columnarized

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use columella in a sentence

Gesner quotes the words of Columella, and adds, that he found these mules in Grenoble, and which are called in French jumars.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
As an amusing contrast to this well drawn picture, I give an extract from the work of that ancient agriculturist Columella.
A Treatise on Sheep:|Ambrose Blacklock
In others the spiral winds round a solid central pillar which is spoken of as the columella.
The Sea Shore|William S. Furneaux
The villa, as described by Varro and Columella, before and shortly after the Christian era, was a farma jundus.
The English Village Community|Frederic Seebohm

In reptiles the upper segment of the second arch formed, as in birds, the columella.
Form and Function|E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell

British Dictionary definitions for columella

columella

/ (ˌkɒljʊˈmɛlə) /

noun plural -lae (-liː)

biology

the central part of the spore-producing body of some fungi and mosses
any similar columnar structure

Also called: columella auris (ˈɔːrɪs) 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

Derived forms of columella

columellar, adjective

Word Origin for columella

C16: from Latin: diminutive of columna column

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012