flagellum

[ fluh-jel-uhm ]

noun

, plural fla·gel·la [fl, uh, -, jel, -, uh], fla·gel·lums.

1. Biology. a long, lashlike appendage serving as an organ of locomotion in protozoa, sperm cells, etc.
2. Botany. a runner.
3. Also called clavola. Entomology. (in an antenna) the whiplike portion above the basal joints.
4. a whip or lash.

flagellum

/ fləˈdʒɛləm /

noun

1. biology a long whiplike outgrowth from a cell that acts as an organ of locomotion: occurs in some protozoans, gametes, spores, etc
2. botany a long thin supple shoot or runner
3. zoology the terminal whiplike part of an arthropod's appendage, esp of the antenna of many insects

flagellum

/ flə-jĕl′əm /

, Plural flagella

1. A slender whiplike part extending from some single-celled organisms, such as the dinoflagellates, that moves rapidly back and forth to impart movement to the organism.

Derived Forms

• flaˈgellar, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of flagellum¹

1800–10; < Latin: whip, lash, diminutive of flagrum a whip, scourge

Word History and Origins

Origin of flagellum¹

C19: from Latin: a little whip, from flagrum a whip, lash

Example Sentences

When roots were exposed to flagella in high-iron environments, IMA1 was not eliminated, but did not need to be expressed since iron levels were sufficient.

From Science Daily

To keep up with their shorter kin, the researchers found, longer bacteria grow a greater number of flagella and disperse their swimming loads among these bundles of limbs.

From Science Magazine

The amoeboid cells of R. marina, characterized by their near immobility, can produce flagellated cells with two rearward-extending flagella through budding under conditions of prey scarcity.

From Science Daily

All five isolates exhibited a distinctive feature of Minorisa, a single flagellum coiled spirally around the cell.

From Science Daily

Even life itself depends critically on turbines for fundamental processes, such as the FoF1-ATP synthase that produces fuels for biological cells and the bacterial flagella motor that propels bacteria.

From Science Daily