labium

American  

[ley-bee-uhm] / ˈleɪ bi əm /

noun

plural

labia

1. a lip or liplike part.

2. Anatomy.

   1. a lip or lip-shaped structure or part.

   2. any of the folds of skin bordering the vulva.

3. Botany. the lower lip of a bilabiate corolla.

4. Entomology. the posterior, unpaired member of the mouthparts of an insect, formed by the united second maxillae.

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labium British  

/ ˈleɪbɪəm /

noun

1. a lip or liplike structure

2. any one of the four lip-shaped folds of the female vulva See labia majora labia minora

3. the fused pair of appendages forming the lower lip of insects

4. the lower lip of the corolla of labiate flowers

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labium Scientific  

/ lā′bē-əm /

plural

labia

1. Either of two pairs of folds of tissue that make up part of the external genitalia of female mammals.

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Other Word Forms

• pseudolabium noun

Etymology

Origin of labium

1590–1600; < Latin: lip, akin to lambere to lick, lap ³. See labrum ¹, lip

Example Sentences

B, Piercing mouth of a Mosquito: a, labial palps; b, labium epi-pharynx; c, labium; d and e, maxill�; f, labrum; g, antenn�; h and i, ocelli: hy, hypopharynx; j, labial palp.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 2: Ebert to Estremadura by Various

So also are the maxillæ and labium, though we are not aware that any one has indicated how close the homology is.

From Our Common Insects A Popular Account of the Insects of Our Fields, Forests, Gardens and Houses by Packard, A. S. (Alpheus Spring)

Figure 116 represents the mouth parts of the same insect a little farther advanced, with the jaws and labium elongated and closely folded together.

From Our Common Insects A Popular Account of the Insects of Our Fields, Forests, Gardens and Houses by Packard, A. S. (Alpheus Spring)

Testa coniformis; spira brevissima; labium exterius simplex; columella plicata; apertura linearis, angusta, spir� longior.

From Zoological Illustrations, Volume I or Original Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare, or Interesting Animals by Swainson, William

The number is significant, since it agrees with that found in Edriophthalmous Crustacea, and assigns the labium of the Hexapod to the same somite numerically as that which carries the labium-like maxillipedes of those Crustacea.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

Related Words

• rim