CILIUM (cilia)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: cilia   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cilium mean? 

• CILIUM (noun)
  The noun CILIUM has 2 senses:

1. a hairlike projection from the surface of a cell; provides locomotion in free-swimming unicellular organisms

2. any of the short curved hairs that grow from the edges of the eyelids

  Familiarity information: CILIUM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CILIUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A hairlike projection from the surface of a cell; provides locomotion in free-swimming unicellular organisms

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("cilium" is a kind of...):

cell organ; cell organelle; organelle (a specialized part of a cell; analogous to an organ)

Derivation:

cilial; ciliary (of or relating to cilia projecting from the surface of a cell)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of the short curved hairs that grow from the edges of the eyelids

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

cilium; eyelash; lash

Hypernyms ("cilium" is a kind of...):

hair (a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss)

Holonyms ("cilium" is a part of...):

eyelid; lid; palpebra (either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye)

Derivation:

ciliary (of or relating to the human eyelash)

 Context examples 

It includes abnormal movements of the cilia in the nose and paranasal sinuses, the respiratory tract and spermatozoa.

(Ciliary Motility Defect, NCI Thesaurus)

Each cell contains 200-300 cilia 5-8 mm long.

(Ciliated Bronchial Epithelial Cell, NCI Thesaurus)

A centriole-containing organelle that serves as the base and nucleation site for microtubules that form cilia or flagella.

(Basal Body, NCI Thesaurus)

Some single-celled creatures have structures called motile cilia that beat rhythmically to allow the cells to move.

(Protein critical to cilia development, NIH)

An incomplete or c-shaped microtubule that is part of a microtubule doublet in cilia.

(B-Microtubule, NCI Thesaurus)

This protein plays a role in the maintenance of cilia.

(B9 Domain-Containing Protein 2, NCI Thesaurus)

Motile cilia contain the motor protein dynein.

(Cilium, NCI Thesaurus)

A microtubule that is part of a cilium.

(Cilium Microtubule, NCI Thesaurus)

It is lined by mucus membrane and periosteum (mucoperiosteum) which contains cilia.

(Maxillary sinus, NCI Thesaurus)

The cilia of the receptor cells protrude into the mucous layer where molecular reception with odors occurs and sensory transduction begins.

(Olfactory Epithelium, NCI Thesaurus)