lamella
[luh-mel-uh]
- 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.
- Mycology. gill1(def 2).
- 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.
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Origin of lamella
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
layersliceslableafscalecoatplaneflakefoilspanglelaminastratumprintlamelladiscplatesheetwafersectionskinExamples from the Web for lamellae
Historical Examples
Lamelliform: made up of or resembling leaves, blades or lamellae.
Explanation of Terms Used in EntomologyJohn. 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., MammaliaFrank 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 SpeciesCharles Darwin
They may have rudimentary exopodites, and may or may not have branchial filaments or lamellae developed on their posterior faces.
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, GuatemalaWilliam E. Duellman
lamella
- 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
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Word Origin
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
lamella
(lə-mĕl′ə)- 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
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.