/leuh mel"euh/ , n. , pl. lamellae /-mel"ee/ , lamellas .
1. a thin plate, scale, membrane, or layer, as of bone, tissue, or cell walls.
2. Bot.
a. an erect scale or blade inserted at the junction of the claw and limb in some corollas and forming a part of their corona or crown.
b. (in mosses) a thin sheet of cells standing up along the midrib of a leaf.
3. Mycol. gill 1 (def. 2).
4. Building Trades. a member of wood, metal, or reinforced concrete, joined in a crisscross pattern with other lamellae to form a vault.
5. Ophthalm. a small disk of gelatin and glycerin mixed with a medicinal substance, used as a medicament for the eyes.
[ 1670-80; lamella, dim. of lamina LAME 2 ]