ligula
Americannoun
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ligulae,
plural
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ligulas
plural
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Botany, Zoology. a tonguelike or strap-shaped part or organ.
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Botany. ligule.
noun
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entomol the terminal part of the labium of an insect consisting of paired lobes
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a variant spelling of ligule
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ligula
1750–60; < New Latin, special use of Latin li ( n ) gula spoon, shoe-strap, equivalent to lig-, variant stem of lingere to lick + -ula -ule
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Paraglossa, par-a-glos′a, n. one of the two appendages of the ligula in insects.—adjs.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
Auricle -cula: an appendage resembling a little ear; in Odonata the tumescent area at the sides of the second abdominal segment: in Andrenidae, a short membranous process placed laterally on the ligula.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith
Another pair of scales had two cups, with a weight on the side opposite to the material weighed, to mark more accurately the fractional weight; this weight was called by the ancients ligula, and examen.
From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by T. L. (Thomas Louis) Haines
Elytral ligula: a tongue-like process on the inner face of the side margin of elytra, to perfect the union with the ventral segments: e.g. in Dytiscidae.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith
Tongue: an indefinite term, applied usually to the coiled mouth structure of Lepidoptera; the lapping organ of flies; the ligula of bees and wasps and, sometimes also to the hypopharynx of other insects.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
