lamella

American  

[luh-mel-uh] / ləˈmɛl ə /

noun

plural

lamellae, lamellas

1. a thin plate, scale, membrane, or layer, as of bone, tissue, or cell walls.

2. Botany.

   1. an erect scale or blade inserted at the junction of the claw and limb in some corollas and forming a part of their corona or crown.

   2. (in mosses) a thin sheet of cells standing up along the midrib of a leaf.

3. Mycology. gill.

4. Building Trades. a member of wood, metal, or reinforced concrete, joined in a crisscross pattern with other lamellae to form a vault.

5. Ophthalmology. a small disk of gelatin and glycerin mixed with a medicinal substance, used as a medicament for the eyes.

---

lamella British  

/ ˌlæməˈlɒsɪtɪ, -lɪt, -lɪt, ləˈmɛləʊs, ˈlæmɪˌleɪt, ˈlæmɪˌləʊs, ləˈmɛlə, ləˈmɛleɪt /

noun

1. a thin layer, plate, or membrane, esp any of the calcified layers of which bone is formed

2. botany

   1. any of the spore-bearing gills of a mushroom

   2. any of the membranes in a chloroplast

   3. Also called: middle lamella.  a layer of pectin cementing together adjacent cells

3. one of a number of timber, metal, or concrete members connected along a pattern of intersecting diagonal lines to form a framed vaulted roof structure

4. any thin sheet of material or thin layer in a fluid

---

Other Word Forms

• lamellar adjective
• lamellarly adverb
• lamellated adjective
• lamellation noun
• lamellosity noun

Etymology

Origin of lamella

1670–80; < Latin lāmella, diminutive of lāmina lame ²

Example Sentences

Its design, by Barcelona-based firm Barozzi Veiga, features a brick lamella facade that calls to mind an old radiator.

From New York Times • Jul. 10, 2023

This mottled appearance is due to a protrusion of a dark lamella of the integument between folded protuberances of albumen.

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

These all seem to be products of hydrolysis of a mother substance known as "pectose," which constitutes the middle lamella of unripe fruit, etc.

From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Thatcher, Roscoe Wilfred

The sexes are distinct, and the generative opening is on the side of the body above the edge of the inner lamella of the inner gill.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6 "Cockaigne" to "Columbus, Christopher" by Various

First—Studies to find in their natural habitat the palmellæ described as the Gemiasma rubra, Gemiasma verdans, Gemiasma plumba, Gemiasma alba, Protuberans lamella.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 384, May 12, 1883 by Various

Related Words

• layer
• slab
• slice