osculum

[ os-kyuh-luhm ]

noun,plural os·cu·la

[os-kyuh-luh]. /ˈɒs kyə lə/.

a small mouthlike aperture, as of a sponge.

Origin of osculum

1605–15; <New Latin, Latin ōsculum, equivalent to ōs mouth + -culum-cule¹

Words Nearby osculum

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

How to use osculum in a sentence

Typically, water comes in through numerous ostia and leaves through the osculum, a hole near the sponges’ top.
Sea sponges launch slow-motion snot rockets to clean their pores | Jude Coleman | August 10, 2022 | Science News
The relative times of appearance of the single osculum and smaller apertures is not constant for the different larv.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1 | Francis Maitland Balfour
Guttur prophanum quod hodie Christo extendis ad osculum, crastino es illud extensurus ad laqueum.
The Works of Sir Thomas Browne (Volume 1 of 3) | Thomas Browne
A mock sermon often concludes the night's proceedings, the ordinary salutation of the osculum in tergo being first given.
The Superstitions of Witchcraft | Howard Williams
The relative times of appearance of the single osculum and the smaller apertures are not constant for the different larv.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume II (of 4) | Francis Maitland Balfour

osculum three times as broad as the central chamber, surrounded by a coronet of short teeth.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia) | Ernst Haeckel

British Dictionary definitions for osculum

osculum

/ (ˈɒskjʊləm) /

nounplural -la (-lə)

zoology a mouthlike aperture, esp the opening in a sponge out of which water passes

Origin of osculum

C17: from Latin: a kiss, little mouth, diminutive of ōs mouth

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

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