columella

[kol-yuh-mel-uh]

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.

Origin of columella

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

Related formscol·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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for columella

Historical Examples of columella

The columella is present and the spores are round and minutely warted.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
This information is obtained from the Latin agriculturist Columella.
The Romance of Words (4th ed.)
Ernest Weekley
Columella was born at Gades (Cadiz), and served in the army in Syria.
A History of Roman Literature
Harold North Fowler
Columella straight, with two or three triradiate verticils of horizontal lateral branches, which are inserted in the shell-wall.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, Second Part: Subclass Osculosa; Index
Ernst Haeckel
The columella and extra-columella have been already described (p. 251).
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for columella

columella

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 Formscolumellar, 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

columella in Medicine

columella

[kŏl′yə-mĕl′ə]

n. pl. col•u•mel•lae (-mĕl′ē)

A column-shaped anatomical structure.

Related formscol′u•mel′lar (-mĕl′ər) adj.col′u•mel′late′ (-mĕl′āt′) adj.