ocellus
Americannoun
-
a type of simple eye common to invertebrates, consisting of retinal cells, pigments, and nerve fibers.
-
an eyelike spot, as on a peacock feather.
noun
-
the simple eye of insects and some other invertebrates, consisting basically of light-sensitive cells
-
any eyelike marking in animals, such as the eyespot on the tail feather of a peacock
-
botany
-
an enlarged discoloured cell in a leaf
-
a swelling on the sporangium of certain fungi
-
-
A small, simple eye or eyespot, found in many invertebrates.
-
A marking that resembles an eye, as on the wings of some butterflies.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ocellus
1810–20; < Latin: little eye, diminutive of oculus eye; see -elle
Vocabulary lists containing ocellus
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Thus the formation of an ocellus in its most elementary state appears to be a simple affair.
From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles
The barbs coalesce towards the extremity of the shaft forming the oval disc or ocellus, which is certainly one of the most beautiful objects in the world.
From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles
I will next describe the other extreme of the series, namely, the first trace of an ocellus.
From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles
I will next describe the other extreme of the series, namely the first trace of an ocellus.
From The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Volume II (1st Edition) by Darwin, Charles
Eyes are either preserved or lost; when preserved they are represented either by a single one-lensed ocellus or by an aggregation of such ocelli on each side of the head.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various
Bands of small blue ocelli are present on the rump feathers and near the tips of the uppertail coverts and tail feathers.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 16, 2013
Although hydras do not have eyes, other members of their family have simple eyes called ocelli.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 20, 2012
Darwin was acutely aware of this and admired the modelling of the ocelli on the argus pheasant tail feathers as "more like a work of art than of nature".
From The Guardian ● Feb. 10, 2012
By what further steps the more complex ocelli, which 135are surrounded by many successive zones of colour, have been generated, I will not pretend to say.
From The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Volume II (1st Edition) by Darwin, Charles
It would, I think, perplex any one, who believes that the plumage of the Argus pheasant was created as we now see it, to account for the imperfect condition of the uppermost ocelli.
From The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Volume II (1st Edition) by Darwin, Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
