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flagellum

[fluh-jel-uh m]
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noun, plural fla·gel·la [fluh-jel-uh] /fləˈdʒɛl ə/, fla·gel·lums.
  1. Biology. a long, lashlike appendage serving as an organ of locomotion in protozoa, sperm cells, etc.
  2. Botany. a runner.
  3. Also called clavola. Entomology. (in an antenna) the whiplike portion above the basal joints.
  4. a whip or lash.
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Origin of flagellum

1800–10; < Latin: whip, lash, diminutive of flagrum a whip, scourge
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for flagellum

Historical Examples

  • Tim and his congeries hate the clerics, but they fear the flagellum.

    Ireland as It Is

    Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

  • Post-annellus: in Hymenoptera, the 4th joint of antenna and 2d of flagellum.

  • In Trichoniscus the flagellum may have from seven to four (rarely three) joints.

    The British Woodlice

    Wilfred Mark Webb

  • It was a curious sensation—that first stroke of the flagellum.

    The Lamp of Fate

    Margaret Pedler

  • The individuals are very small indeed, and it will take your best objective to show the flagellum.

British Dictionary definitions for flagellum

flagellum

noun plural -la (-lə) or -lums
  1. biology a long whiplike outgrowth from a cell that acts as an organ of locomotion: occurs in some protozoans, gametes, spores, etc
  2. botany a long thin supple shoot or runner
  3. zoology the terminal whiplike part of an arthropod's appendage, esp of the antenna of many insects
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Derived Formsflagellar, adjective

Word Origin

C19: from Latin: a little whip, from flagrum a whip, lash
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

Word Origin and History for flagellum

n.

1852, in reference to microbes, from Latin flagellum "whip, scourge," diminutive of flagrum "whip," from PIE root *bhlag- "to strike."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
flagellum in Medicine

flagellum

(flə-jĕl′əm)
n. pl. fla•gel•la (-jĕl′ə)
  1. A threadlike appendage, especially a whiplike extension of certain cells or organisms that functions as an organ of locomotion.
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Related formsfla•gel′lar (-jĕl′ər) adj.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
flagellum in Science

flagellum

[flə-jĕl′əm]
Plural flagella
  1. A slender whiplike part extending from some single-celled organisms, such as the dinoflagellates, that moves rapidly back and forth to impart movement to the organism.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.