flocculus

American  

[flok-yuh-luhs] / ˈflɒk jə ləs /

noun

• flocculi
  plural

1. floccule.

2. Astronomy. one of the bright or dark patches on the sun's surface, visible in a spectroheliogram.

---

flocculus British  

/ ˈflɒkjʊləs /

noun

1. a marking on the sun's surface or in its atmosphere, as seen on a spectroheliogram. It consists of calcium when lighter than the surroundings and of hydrogen when darker

2. anatomy a tiny ovoid prominence on each side of the cerebellum

3. another word for floccule

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• flocculi
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of flocculus

From New Latin, dating back to 1790–1800; see origin at floccule

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flocculus flocculi

Each flocculus, in describing its course, must give motion to the medium through which it is moving.

From Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I by Herbert Spencer

Then he did the same for variations in the sun's flocculi.

From Time Magazine Archive

They develop just after the sun's surface shows "calcium flocculi": a nubbly appearance that signals an unusually large output of ultraviolet light.

From Time Magazine Archive

Whirling round rapidly in eddying flocculi, they quickly tailed away to the north, evaporating and disappearing.

From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Sir Douglas Mawson

When radiation has adequately lowered the temperature, these molecules will precipitate; and, having precipitated, they will not remain uniformly diffused, but will aggregate into flocculi; just as water, precipitated from air, collects into clouds.

From Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I by Herbert Spencer

Its most usual and characteristic appearance is that of a grayish liquid containing whitish flocculi.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---