flagellum

[ fluh-jel-uhm ]

/ fləˈdʒɛl əm /

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noun, plural fla·gel·la

[fluh-jel-uh], /fləˈdʒɛl ə/, fla·gel·lums.

Biology. a long, lashlike appendage serving as an organ of locomotion in protozoa, sperm cells, etc.

Botany. a runner.

Also called clavola. Entomology. (in an antenna) the whiplike portion above the basal joints.

a whip or lash.

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Origin of flagellum

1800–10; <Latin: whip, lash, diminutive of flagrum a whip, scourge

Words nearby flagellum

Flagellata, flagellate, flagellation, flagelliform, flagellin, flagellum, flageolet, flag fall, flagfish, flag football, Flagg

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

How to use flagellum in a sentence

Think of its incredibly sophisticated miniature machines, like the swirling flagellum that helps a bacterium swim.
Is Ginkgo’s synthetic-biology story worth $15 billion?|Antonio Regalado|August 24, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Here a flagellum from the male unites with the female, which soon thereafter becomes encysted in the wall of the intestine.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
Despite some humorous touches, this Flagellum Parliamentum is still disagreeable to read.
Andrew Marvell|Augustine Birrell
He began a series of satires on princes and leading men, and earned the title of flagellum principum.
Books Fatal to Their Authors|P. H. Ditchfield

The pseudopodia are occasionally withdrawn, and the flagellum is the sole means of locomotion.
Marine Protozoa from Woods Hole|Gary N. Calkins
In addition to the main flagellum, there are usually one or two small flagella at the basis of the larger one.
Marine Protozoa from Woods Hole|Gary N. Calkins

British Dictionary definitions for flagellum

flagellum

/ (fləˈdʒɛləm) /

noun plural -la (-lə) or -lums

biology a long whiplike outgrowth from a cell that acts as an organ of locomotion: occurs in some protozoans, gametes, spores, etc

botany a long thin supple shoot or runner

zoology the terminal whiplike part of an arthropod's appendage, esp of the antenna of many insects

Derived forms of flagellum

flagellar, adjective

Word Origin for flagellum

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

Scientific definitions for flagellum

flagellum

[ flə-jĕl′əm ]

Plural flagella

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.