glomerulus

[gloh-mer-yuh-luh s, gluh-]

noun, plural glo·mer·u·li [gloh-mer-yuh-lahy, gluh-] /gloʊˈmɛr yəˌlaɪ, glə-/. Anatomy.

a compact cluster of capillaries.

Also called Malpighian tuft. a tuft of convoluted capillaries in the nephron of a kidney, functioning to remove certain substances from the blood before it flows into the convoluted tubule.

Compare Bowman's capsule, Malpighian corpuscle.

Origin of glomerulus

1855–60; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin glomer- (stem of glomus) ball-shaped mass + -ulus -ule

Related formsglo·mer·u·lar, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for glomerular

Historical Examples of glomerular

The glomerular capsules are much distended, and numerous leucocytes are discernible throughout the organ.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection
Alexander Wynter Blyth

British Dictionary definitions for glomerular

glomerulus

noun plural -li (-ˌlaɪ)

a knot of blood vessels in the kidney projecting into the capsular end of a urine-secreting tubule

any cluster or coil of blood vessels, nerve fibres, etc, in the body

Derived Formsglomerular, adjective

Word Origin for glomerulus

C18: from New Latin, diminutive of glomus ball

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

glomerular in Medicine

glomerular

[glō-mĕr′yə-lər]

adj.

Relating to or affecting a glomerulus or the glomeruli.

glomerulus

[glō-mĕr′yə-ləs]

n. pl. glo•mer•u•li (-lī′)

A small cluster or intertwined mass.

A tuft of capillaries situated within a Bowman's capsule at the end of a renal tubule in the vertebrate kidney that filters waste products from the blood and thus initiates urine formation.

The twisted secretory portion of a sweat gland.

A nerve ending consisting of a cluster of dendritic ramifications and axon terminals surrounded by a glial sheath.

glomerular in Science

glomerulus

[glō-mĕr′yə-ləs]

Plural glomeruli (glō-mĕr′yə-lī′)

A knot of highly permeable capillaries located within the Bowman's capsule of a nephron. Waste products are filtered from the blood in the glomerulus, initiating the process of urine formation.