FILAMENT

[fil.a.ment] n [MF, fr. ML filamentum, fr. LL filare to spin--more at file] (1594): a single thread or a thin flexible threadlike object, process, or appendage: as a: a tenuous conductor (as of carbon or metal) made incandescent by the passage of an electric current; specif: a cathode in the form of a metal wire in an electron tube b (1): a thin and fine elongated constituent part of a gill (2): an elongated thin series of cells attached one to another or a very long thin cylindrical single cell (as of some algae, fungi, or bacteria) c: the anther-bearing stalk of a stamen--see flower illustration -- fil.a.men.ta.ry adj -- fil.a.men.tous adj