ˈspiˌkyül noun
( -s )
Etymology: New Latin spicula & Latin spiculum small sharp organ or part, sting, arrowhead, arrow; Latin spiculum from spica head (of grain) + -ulum — more at spike
1.
a. : a small fleshy point or appendage (as the sterigma in basidiomycetous fungi)
b. : spikelet
c. : the empty siliceous shell of a diatom
2.
a. : one of the numerous small often very minute calcareous or siliceous bodies occurring in and serving to stiffen and support the tissues of various invertebrates (as the majority of sponges and alcyonarians and many radiolarians, holothurians, and compound ascidians) and having forms that are very varied and often characteristic of a species or other group
b. : a spikelike organ
a copulatory spicule
: spiculum 1
3. : any minute slender pointed body : a needlelike body especially of bony or other hard material
spicules of ice
4. : a very small spikelike short-lived prominence appearing close to the chromosphere of the solar atmosphere and occurring in greatest numbers at the sun's poles