columella

American  

[kol-yuh-mel-uh] / ˌkɒl yəˈmɛl ə /

noun

Biology.

plural

columellae

1. 1. any of various small, columnlike structures of animals or plants; rod or axis.

   2. Mycology. a small central column of sterile tissue within the sporangium of certain fungi, liverworts, and mosses.

2. a small bone in the ear of amphibians, reptiles, and birds.

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columella British  

/ ˌkɒljʊˈmɛlə /

noun

1. biology

   1. the central part of the spore-producing body of some fungi and mosses

   2. any similar columnar structure

2. Also called: columella auris.  a small rodlike bone in the middle ear of frogs, reptiles, and birds that transmits sound to the inner ear: homologous to the mammalian stapes

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Other Word Forms

• columellar adjective
• columellate adjective
• postcolumellar adjective
• pseudocolumellar adjective

Etymology

Origin of columella

1575–85; < Latin: small column, equivalent to colum- (variant of column-, stem of columna column ) + -ella -elle

Example Sentences

The interior is nacreous, and of a greenish colour, with a white patch round the columella.

From Beautiful Shells of New Zealand An Illustrated Work for Amateur Collectors of New Zealand Marine Shells, with Directions for Collecting and Cleaning them by Moss, E. G. B.

The following is its generic character:—'Testa ovato-producta, sub-solida; apertura ovata, integra; columella bidentata et basin versus uniplicata; dentibus magnis sub-remotis conniventibus, superiori maximo; operculum nullum.'

From Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836 Volume I. - Proceedings of the First Expedition, 1826-1830 by Fitzroy, Robert

A part of the columella and capillitium, � 60.

From The North American Slime-Moulds A Descriptive List of All Species of Myxomycetes Hitherto Reported from the Continent of North America, with Notes on Some Extra-Limital Species by MacBride, Thomas H. (Thomas Huston)

Shell ovoid, with short spire and folded columella; foot small, no operculum; siphon short.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

Laterally this bone is deeply emarginate; posteriorly it forms a large part of the otic notch, through which the columella passes.

From A Revision of Snakes of the Genus Conophis (Family Colubridae, from Middle America) by Wellman, John