vela

[ vee-luh ]

/ ˈvi lə /

Save This Word!

noun

plural of velum.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Words nearby vela

veinstone, veinule, veiny, Veiovis, vel., vela, velamen, velamentous, velar, velaric airstream, velarium

Other definitions for vela (2 of 2)

Vela

[ vee-luh, vey- ]

/ ˈvi lə, ˈveɪ- /

noun, genitive Ve·lo·rum

[vee-lawr-uhm, -lohr-, vey-] /viˈlɔr əm, -ˈloʊr-, veɪ-/ for 1. Astronomy.

the Sail, a southern constellation: one of the subordinate constellations into which Argo is divided.

U.S. Aerospace. one of a series of reconnaissance satellites designed to detect nuclear explosions.

Origin of Vela

<Latin, plural of vēlum sail

How to use vela in a sentence

The Vela 3 and 4 satellites observed brief flashes of high-energy photons, or gamma rays, that appeared to be coming from space.
Brighter Than a Billion Billion Suns: Gamma-Ray Bursts Continue to Surprise|Jonathan O'Callaghan|June 30, 2021|Quanta Magazine
Either way, it’s considerably larger than the Vela supernova remnant, which is about 100 light-years wide.
A gargantuan supernova remnant looks 40 times as big as the full moon|Ken Croswell|March 17, 2021|Science News
Vela is not an employee of the hospital, but he was told vaccine doses were available if he wanted one.
Rio Grande Hospital Workers Turned Down the Vaccine. A Senator and a Sheriff’s Deputy Lined Up Instead.|by Vianna Davila, ProPublica, and Karen Brooks Harper, The Texas Tribune|December 21, 2020|ProPublica
Smith is running against incumbent Democrat Filemon Vela, who destroyed his opponent in 2012 with 62 percent of the vote.
Republican Thinks Obama’s Mental Illness Caused Border Crisis|Gideon Resnick|July 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The roof of the fourth ventricle widens out very much and remains largely epithelial as the superior and inferior medullary vela.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4|Various
The Redonda and Alta Vela phosphates consist chiefly of phosphate of alumina.
Manures and the principles of manuring|Charles Morton Aikman
De la Torre, therefore, requested the father guardian to converse on the subject with Vela Nunnez.
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 5|Robert Kerr
At first Vela Nunnez was on his guard, lest it might be a false confidence devised for his ruin.
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 5|Robert Kerr
Leaving these friendly Indians, Ojeda pursued his way along the coast to the westward, until he reached cape de la Vela.
The American Quarterly Review, No. 17, March 1831|Various

British Dictionary definitions for vela

Vela

/ (ˈviːlə) /

noun Latin genitive Velorum (viːˈlɔːrəm)

a constellation in the S hemisphere, close to Puppis and Carina and crossed by the Milky Way, that has four second-magnitude stars and a young bright pulsar

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