glomerulus

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

noun

Anatomy.

plural

glomeruli 

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.

glomerulus

/ ɡlɒˈmɛrʊləs /

noun

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

glomerulus

plural

glomeruli 

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.

Other Word Forms

• glomerular adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of glomerulus¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of glomerulus¹

C18: from New Latin, diminutive of glomus ball