mycelium

American  

[mahy-see-lee-uhm] / maɪˈsi li əm /

noun

Mycology.

• mycelia
  plural

1. the mass of hyphae that form the vegetative part of a fungus.

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mycelium British  

/ maɪˈsiːlɪəm /

noun

1. the vegetative body of fungi: a mass of branching filaments (hyphae) that spread throughout the nutrient substratum

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mycelium Scientific  

/ mī-sē′lē-əm /

• mycelia
  plural

1. The mass of fine branching tubes (known as hyphae) that forms the main growing structure of a fungus. Visible structures like mushrooms are reproductive structures produced by the mycelium.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mycelial
  adjective
• myceloid
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mycelia
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of mycelium

1830–40; < New Latin, equivalent to Greek myk- myc- + ( h ) ḗl ( os ) wart, nail + New Latin -ium -ium

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mycelium mycelia

Feeding on the waste, the mycelium grows into the desired shape.

From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025

These are placed into moulds, where mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi, takes over.

From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025

They included a structure grown from mycelium, the root network of fungus.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2025

Firstly, that mushrooms do not contain starch, but supplements consisting of mycelium grown on grain does.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025

Most of it is underground, consisting of a network of microscopic cells called mycelium.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

“It’s a decompression room where people can dip out of the main anchor to have a quiet meditative moment and recaliberate. It’s going to be all-natural treatments with a mycelia ceiling.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2026

First of all, they are not green and do not engage in photosynthesis, but rather feed on fungal mycelia in the ground.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 29, 2024

For a mushroom to grow, a fungal spore has to set up shop on a surface and produce mycelia.

From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2024

Thin strands of their mycelia creep along surfaces.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2023

Again, the mycelia of fungi are much more easily killed by toxic agents used as fungicides than are the spores of the same fungi.

From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher

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