hilum

[ hahy-luhm ]

noun

, plural hi·la [hahy, -l, uh].

1. Botany.
   1. the mark or scar on a seed produced by separation from its funicle or placenta.
   2. the nucleus of a granule of starch.
2. Mycology. a mark or scar on a spore at the point of attachment to the spore-bearing structure.
3. Anatomy. the region at which the vessels, nerves, etc., enter or emerge from a part.

hilum

/ ˈhaɪləm /

noun

1. botany
   1. a scar on the surface of a seed marking its point of attachment to the seed stalk (funicle)
   2. the nucleus of a starch grain
2. a deep fissure or depression on the surface of a bodily organ around the point of entrance or exit of vessels, nerves, or ducts

hilum

/ hī′ləm /

, Plural hila

1. A mark or scar on a seed, such as a bean, showing where it was formerly attached to the plant. The hilum indicates the point of attachment of the funiculus.
2. A depression or opening through which nerves, ducts, or blood vessels pass in an organ or a gland, as in the medial aspect of the lungs or the kidneys .

Other Words From

• hilar adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hilum¹

1650–60; < New Latin; Latin: little thing, trifle; nil

Word History and Origins

Origin of hilum¹

C17: from Latin: trifle; see nihil

Example Sentences

Pod splitting wholly or part-way down into 3 or at length into 6 valves; seeds many, naked at the hilum.

From Project Gutenberg

At the extremity most remote from the hilum, as the embryo, or inverted with respect to the seed, as the radicle.

From Project Gutenberg

The form of the hilum is constant throughout a genus, and sometimes also in whole tribes.

From Project Gutenberg

In an orthotropal seed the embryo is inverted or antitropal, the radicle pointing to the apex of the seed, or to the part opposite the hilum.

From Project Gutenberg

In the Cetacea this transverse opening is kidney-shaped, the hilum of the kidney being above.

From Project Gutenberg