operculum

[ oh-pur-kyuh-luhm ]

noun,plural o·per·cu·la [oh-pur-kyuh-luh], /oʊˈpɜr kyə lə/, o·per·cu·lums.
  1. Botany, Zoology. a part or organ serving as a lid or cover, as a covering flap on a seed vessel.

  2. Zoology.

    • the gill cover of fishes and amphibians.

    • (in many gastropods) a horny plate that closes the opening of the shell when the animal is retracted.

Origin of operculum

1
1705–15; <New Latin, Latin: lid, cover, equivalent to oper(īre) to cover + -culum-cule2

Other words from operculum

  • o·per·cu·lar, adjective

Words Nearby operculum

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use operculum in a sentence

  • operculum semi-lunar, orange, with a projection which serves as a lock to keep the operculum in position.

    Our British Snails | John William Horsley
  • operculum made of plates rising one above another formed at different stages of growth.

    Our British Snails | John William Horsley
  • The operculum, like the shell itself, often exhibits distinct lines of growth which display the manner in which it was built up.

    The Sea Shore | William S. Furneaux
  • These fishes generally have an air-bladder, and the gills lie close together in a cavity covered by an operculum.

    The Sea Shore | William S. Furneaux
  • These are the bones connected with respiration—the operculum, the branchiostegal rays, the branchial arches, and others.

    Form and Function | E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell

British Dictionary definitions for operculum

operculum

/ (əʊˈpɜːkjʊləm) /


nounplural -la (-lə) or -lums
  1. zoology

    • the hard bony flap covering the gill slits in fishes

    • the bony plate in certain gastropods covering the opening of the shell when the body is withdrawn

  2. botany the covering of the spore-bearing capsule of a moss

  1. biology any other covering or lid in various organisms

Origin of operculum

1
C18: via New Latin from Latin: lid, from operīre to cover

Derived forms of operculum

  • opercular or operculate (əʊˈpɜːkjʊlɪt, -ˌleɪt), adjective

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

Scientific definitions for operculum

operculum

[ ō-pûrkyə-ləm ]


Plural opercula operculums
  1. A lid or flap covering an opening, such as the gill cover in some fish or the horny flap covering the opening of a snail.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.