glomerulus

[ gloh-mer-yuh-luhs, gluh- ]

noun,plural glo·mer·u·li [gloh-mer-yuh-lahy, gluh-]. /gloʊˈmɛr yəˌlaɪ, glə-/. Anatomy.
  1. a compact cluster of capillaries.

  2. 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.

Origin of glomerulus

1
1855–60; <New Latin, equivalent to Latin glomer- (stem of glomus) ball-shaped mass + -ulus-ule

Other words from glomerulus

  • glo·mer·u·lar, adjective

Words Nearby glomerulus

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How to use glomerulus in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for glomerulus

glomerulus

/ (ɡlɒˈmɛrʊləs) /


nounplural -li (-ˌlaɪ)
  1. a knot of blood vessels in the kidney projecting into the capsular end of a urine-secreting tubule

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

Origin of glomerulus

1
C18: from New Latin, diminutive of glomus ball

Derived forms of glomerulus

  • glomerular, adjective

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 glomerulus

glomerulus

[ glō-mĕryə-ləs ]


Plural glomeruli (glō-mĕryə-lī′)
  1. 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.

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