hilum

American  

[hahy-luhm] / ˈhaɪ ləm /

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.

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hilum British  

/ 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

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hilum Scientific  

/ hī′ləm /

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 .

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Other Word Forms

• hilar adjective

Etymology

Origin of hilum

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

Example Sentences

Blood enters and exits the kidney at the renal hilum, and the renal blood supply starts with the branching of the aorta into the renal arteries.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The primary bronchi enter the lungs at the hilum, a concave region where blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and nerves also enter the lungs.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

As urine is formed, it drains into the calyces of the kidney, which merge to form the funnel-shaped renal pelvis in the hilum of each kidney.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Ureters, blood vessels, lymph vessels, and nerves enter and leave at the renal hilum.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

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.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various