CILIUM


Meaning of CILIUM in English

ˈsilēəm noun

( plural cil·ia -ēə ; also ciliums )

Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, eyelid — more at cilia

1. : eyelash

2. : a minute hairlike process often forming a fringe (as between the teeth of the moss peristome or on the margins of many leaves)

3. : a hairlike process found on many cells that is capable of vibratory or lashing movement and that serves in free-swimming unicellular organisms and in some small multicellular forms as an organ of locomotion or in the higher animal as a producer of a current of fluid (as in the human external nares, trachea, and bronchi where ciliated cells beating constantly toward the nose assist in removal of mucus and dust particles)

4. : a barbicel of a feather

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.