papilla

American  

[puh-pil-uh] / pəˈpɪl ə /

noun

papillae plural

1. any small, nipplelike process or projection.

2. one of certain small protuberances concerned with the senses of touch, taste, and smell.

   the papillae of the tongue.

3. a small vascular process at the root of a hair.

4. a papule or pimple.

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papilla British  

/ pəˈpɪlə /

noun

1. the small projection of tissue at the base of a hair, tooth, or feather

2. any other similar protuberance

3. any minute blunt hair or process occurring in plants

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papilla Scientific  

/ pə-pĭl′ə /

papillae plural

1. A small part projecting from the surface of an organism. In mammals, the nipples of the mammary glands and the taste buds of the tongue are papillae. Papillae are often seen on the undersurfaces of mosses and ferns.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• papillar
  adjective
• papillary
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• papillae
  plural

Etymology

Origin of papilla

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin: nipple, teat, diminutive of papula pimple. See pap ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

papilla papillae

Remarkably, the papillae were also found to be distinctive across all fifteen subjects and individuals could be identified with an accuracy of 48 per cent from a single papilla.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 14, 2023

The number of muscles and nerves in each papilla is roughly the equivalent to what is in each human finger, Dr. Wardill estimates.

From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2021

Scientists do not fully understand its efficacy but the working theory is that minoxidil protects the dermal papilla from DHT.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 7, 2018

The cause of death was duodenal papilla cancer.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 1, 2017

A short time after the appearance of the vacuoles the entire conidium extends itself so that the papilla disappears.

From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)

Red whirls on this rabbit’s tongue are filiform papillae, which roughen the tongue and help move food around the mouth.

From New York Times ● May 21, 2024

Of these numerous projections, the mushroom-shaped fungiform papillae hold our taste buds whereas the crown-shaped filiform papillae give the tongue its texture and sense of touch.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 14, 2023

To match their backgrounds, cuttlefish use an array of pigment-filled skin cells called chromatophores and raised structures called papillae.

From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2023

The saliva coats the papillae, which can act like tiny sticky fingers to help grip prey, David Hu, a biomechanics researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his colleagues reported in 2017.

From Science Magazine ● May 24, 2023

“The papillae house the taste buds. Let’s count them!”

From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead