lamella

[luh-mel-uh]

noun, plural la·mel·lae [luh-mel-ee] /ləˈmɛl i/, la·mel·las.

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

Botany.

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

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

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

Origin of lamella

1670–80; < Latin lāmella, diminutive of lāmina lame²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lamellae

layer, slice, slab, leaf, scale, coat, plane, flake, foil, spangle, lamina, stratum, print, disc, plate, sheet, wafer, section, skin, disk

Examples from the Web for lamellae

Historical Examples of lamellae

Lamelliform: made up of or resembling leaves, blades or lamellae.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology
John. B. Smith
The teeth are four in each jaw, and are formed of three to five lamellae; the incisors of this animal are powerful but short.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia
Frank Evers Beddard
There are other species of geese, as I hear from Mr. Bartlett, in which the lamellae are less developed than in the common goose.
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
They may have rudimentary exopodites, and may or may not have branchial filaments or lamellae developed on their posterior faces.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6
Various
There are 21 and 23 lamellae beneath the fourth toe; each has 31 longitudinal rows of scales around the body.
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern El Peten, Guatemala
William E. Duellman

British Dictionary definitions for lamellae

lamella

noun plural -lae (-liː) or -las

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

botany

any of the spore-bearing gills of a mushroom
any of the membranes in a chloroplast
Also called: middle lamellaa layer of pectin cementing together adjacent cells

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

any thin sheet of material or thin layer in a fluid

Derived Formslamellar, lamellate (ˈlæmɪˌleɪt, -lɪt, ləˈmɛleɪt, -lɪt) or lamellose (ləˈmɛləʊs, ˈlæmɪˌləʊs), adjectivelamellarly or lamellately, adverblamellated, adjectivelamellation, nounlamellosity (ˌlæməˈlɒsɪtɪ), noun

Word Origin for lamella

C17: New Latin, from Latin, diminutive of lāmina thin plate

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

lamellae in Medicine

lamella

[lə-mĕl′ə]

n. pl. la•mel•las

A thin scale, plate, or layer of bone or tissue, as around the minute vascular canals in bone.

A medicated gelatin disk, used instead of a solution for application to the conjunctiva.disk

Related formsla•mel′lar adj.