lamella

[ luh-mel-uh ]

/ ləˈmɛl ə /

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See synonyms for lamella on Thesaurus.com

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.

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

1670–80; <Latin lāmella, diminutive of lāminalame²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lamella in a sentence

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
(c) the wide beak, which sheaths both upper and lower jaws, and whose edges are raised into lamellae, which act as strainers.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds
The transverse processes of the seventh vertebra have no inferior lamellae and are not perforated.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds
The arrangement of the lamellae and pads differs much in the various genera and is used for classificatory purposes.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5|Various

Most species have sharp, curved claws, often retractile between some of the lamellae or into a special sheath.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5|Various

British Dictionary definitions for lamella

lamella

/ (ləˈmɛlə) /

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 lamella a 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 forms of lamella

lamellar, lamellate (ˈlæmɪˌleɪt, -lɪt, ləˈmɛleɪt, -lɪt) or lamellose (ləˈmɛləʊs, ˈlæmɪˌləʊs), adjectivelamellarly or lamellately, adverblamellated, adjectivelamellation, noun

lamellosity (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

lamella

Origin of lamella

Words related to lamella

How to use lamella in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lamella

Derived forms of lamella

Word Origin for lamella