velum

American  

[vee-luhm] / ˈvi ləm /

noun

• vela,
  plural
• velum
  plural

1. Biology. any of various veillike or curtainlike membranous partitions.

2. Anatomy. the soft palate. palate1

3. Meteorology. a thin cloud, large in horizontal area, that is draped over or penetrated by cumuliform clouds.

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velum British  

/ ˈviːləm /

noun

1. zoology any of various membranous structures, such as the ciliated oral membrane of certain mollusc larvae or the veil-like membrane running around the rim of a jellyfish

2. anatomy any of various veil-like bodily structures, esp the soft palate

3. botany another word for veil

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• vela
  plural
• velum
  plural

Etymology

Origin of velum

First recorded in 1765–75, velum is from the Latin word vēlum sail, covering

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

velum vela

It bears the botanical name of Atropa, being so called from one of the classic Fates,—she who held the shears to cut the thread of human life:— "Clotho velum retinet, Lachesis net, et atropos occit."

From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by William Thomas Fernie

The velum interpositum was very firm; the plexus choroides uncommonly thick, but pale; the opening from the right to the left ventricle large.

From Cases of Organic Diseases of the Heart by John Collins Warren

Head broad, surrounded by a funnel-shaped velum or hood; no radula; dorsal appendages foliaceous.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

Others derive the name from velum, a sail; because the exhibitors of public shows used to hang the road that leads from the forum to the Circus Maximus with sails, beginning at this spot.

From Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans by Arthur Hugh Clough

In adolescents and adults, if the cleft is wide and the soft tissues of the palate are thin and atrophied, better physiological results may be obtained by the use of an artificial obturator or velum.

From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles

“I could never dress like this in Veracruz, where I live now,” said Ximena Ximénez, 27, who returned to Juchitán for the vela and wore a black, gold and white garment with a matching headpiece.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024

She sat patiently as ardent beauticians prepared her for her formal investiture, a highlight of the three-day festival — or vela — that celebrates muxe culture here every November.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024

This weekend's festival is called the "True Fearless Seekers of Danger" vela, a name that harkens to the risk many members of the community face.

From Reuters ● Nov. 19, 2023

For it is the vela discovered, denounced, and made over to them by Pedro Vicente.

From The Lost Mountain A Tale of Sonora by Mayne Reid

The roof of the fourth ventricle widens out very much and remains largely epithelial as the superior and inferior medullary vela.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4 "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" by Various