ocellus
Americannoun
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a type of simple eye common to invertebrates, consisting of retinal cells, pigments, and nerve fibers.
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an eyelike spot, as on a peacock feather.
noun
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the simple eye of insects and some other invertebrates, consisting basically of light-sensitive cells
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any eyelike marking in animals, such as the eyespot on the tail feather of a peacock
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botany
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an enlarged discoloured cell in a leaf
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a swelling on the sporangium of certain fungi
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A small, simple eye or eyespot, found in many invertebrates.
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A marking that resembles an eye, as on the wings of some butterflies.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ocellus
1810–20; < Latin: little eye, diminutive of oculus eye; see -elle
Vocabulary lists containing ocellus
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This border in P. chinquis shades into brown, edged with cream colour, so that the ocellus is here surrounded with variously shaded, though not bright, concentric zones.
From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles
A, B, C, D, etc., are dark stripes running obliquely down, each to an ocellus.
From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles
It should be particularly observed that each ocellus stands in obvious connection either with a dark stripe, or with a longitudinal row of dark spots, for both occur indifferently on the same feather.
From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles
A, B, C, &c., dark stripes running obliquely down, each to an ocellus.
From The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Volume II (1st Edition) by Darwin, Charles
The indentation of the central disc and of the surrounding zones of the ocellus, in both species of peacock, speaks plainly in favour of this view, and is otherwise inexplicable.
From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles
Bands of small blue ocelli are present on the rump feathers and near the tips of the uppertail coverts and tail feathers.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 16, 2013
Although hydras do not have eyes, other members of their family have simple eyes called ocelli.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 20, 2012
Darwin was acutely aware of this and admired the modelling of the ocelli on the argus pheasant tail feathers as "more like a work of art than of nature".
From The Guardian ● Feb. 10, 2012
But when I looked at the specimen in the British Museum, which is mounted with the wings expanded and trailing downwards, I was greatly disappointed, for the ocelli appeared flat or even concave.
From The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Volume II (1st Edition) by Darwin, Charles
Insects, crustaceans, &c., have large masses of simple eyes or ocelli aggregated together to form compound eyes—the separate facets or lenses being optically distinct, and sometimes numbering many thousands.
From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 3: Estremoz to Felspar by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
