hilum

[hahy-luhm]

noun

plural

hila 

1. Botany.

   1. the mark or scar on a seed produced by separation from its funicle or placenta.

   2. the nucleus of a granule of starch.

2. Mycology.,  a mark or scar on a spore at the point of attachment to the spore-bearing structure.

3. Anatomy.,  the region at which the vessels, nerves, etc., enter or emerge from a part.

hilum

/ ˈhaɪləm /

noun

1. botany

   1. a scar on the surface of a seed marking its point of attachment to the seed stalk (funicle)

   2. the nucleus of a starch grain

2. a deep fissure or depression on the surface of a bodily organ around the point of entrance or exit of vessels, nerves, or ducts

hilum

plural

hila 

1. A mark or scar on a seed, such as a bean, showing where it was formerly attached to the plant. The hilum indicates the point of attachment of the funiculus.

2. A depression or opening through which nerves, ducts, or blood vessels pass in an organ or a gland, as in the medial aspect of the lungs or the kidneys .

Other Word Forms

• hilar adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hilum¹

1650–60; < New Latin; Latin: little thing, trifle; nil

Word History and Origins

Origin of hilum¹

C17: from Latin: trifle; see _nihil

Example Sentences

Inverted and straight, with the micropyle next the hilum and the radicle consequently inferior.

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At the extremity most remote from the hilum, as the embryo, or inverted with respect to the seed, as the radicle.

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The form of the hilum is constant throughout a genus, and sometimes also in whole tribes.

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In an orthotropal seed the embryo is inverted or antitropal, the radicle pointing to the apex of the seed, or to the part opposite the hilum.

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In the Cetacea this transverse opening is kidney-shaped, the hilum of the kidney being above.

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