rostellum

[ ro-stel-uhm ]

/ rɒˈstɛl əm /

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noun, plural ros·tel·la

[ro-stel-uh]. /rɒˈstɛl ə/.

Biology. any small, beaklike process.

Botany. a beaklike modification of the stigma in many orchids.

Zoology.

a projecting part of the scolex in certain tapeworms.
a part of the mouth in many insects, designed for sucking.

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Origin of rostellum

1750–60; <New Latin; Latin: little beak, snout, diminutive of rōstrum snout (see rostrum); for formation, see castellum

Words nearby rostellum

Ross Island, Rossiya, Ross Sea, Rostand, rostellate, rostellum, Rosten, Rostenkowski, roster, rösti, Rostock

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

How to use rostellum in a sentence

I want to know whether anything beats in modification the rostellum of Catasetum.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II|Charles Darwin
It is to discover whether rostellum yet retains some of its primordial function of being penetrated by pollen-tubes.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II|Charles Darwin
Asa Gray's observations on the rostellum of Gymnadenia are very imperfect, yet worth looking at.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II|Charles Darwin
I did think it possible or probable that perfect fertilisation might have been effected through rostellum.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II|Charles Darwin

One has a rostellum without hooks, like the tni of the vegetable-feeders, the other has hooks like those of the carnivora.
Animal Parasites and Messmates|P. J. Van Beneden

British Dictionary definitions for rostellum

rostellum

/ (rɒˈstɛləm) /

noun plural -la (-lə)

biology a small beaklike process, such as the hooked projection from the top of the head in tapeworms or the outgrowth from the stigma of an orchid

Derived forms of rostellum

rostellate or rostellar, adjective

Word Origin for rostellum

C18: from Latin: a little beak, from rōstrum a beak

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