English

Noun

pilus ‎(plural pili)

1. A hair.
2. (microbiology) A hairlike appendage found on the cell surface of many bacteria.
3. (biochemistry) A bacterial protein that has several biochemical functions

Synonyms

• (hairlike appendage): fimbria

See also

• flagellum
• pilus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• pulis

Dutch

Noun

pilus m ‎(plural pili)

1. pilus (bacterial appendage)

Latin

Etymology 1

From the Proto-Indo-European *pil- ‎(“one string of hair”). ^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪ.lʊs/

Noun

pilus m ‎(genitive pilī); second declension

1. (anatomy) A hair.
2. (figuratively) An insignificant amount; iota; least amount

Inflection

Second declension.

Derived terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

From pīlum ‎(“javelin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːlʊs/

Noun

pīlus m ‎(genitive pīlī); second declension

1. A maniple of the triāriī; a reserve company of veteran soldiers.

Inflection

Second declension.

Synonyms

• pīlum

Derived terms

• prīmus pīlus

References

• pilus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pilus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• PILUS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “pilus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.

1. ↑ Nostratic Etymology 867.