Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Operculum
O-per′cu-lum
,Noun.
pl. L.
Opercula
(#)
, E. Operculums
(#)
. [L., a cover or lid, fr.
operire
to cover.] 1.
(Bot.)
(a)
The lid of a pitcherform leaf.
(b)
The lid of the urnlike capsule of mosses.
2.
(Anat.)
(a)
Any lidlike or operculiform process or part;
as, the
. opercula
of a dental follicle(b)
The fold of integument, usually supported by bony plates, which protects the gills of most fishes and some amphibians; the gill cover; the gill lid.
(c)
The principal opercular bone in the upper and posterior part of the gill cover.
3.
(Zool.)
(a)
The lid closing the aperture of various species of shells, as the common whelk. See Illust. of
Gastropoda
. (b)
Any lid-shaped structure closing the aperture of a tube or shell.
Definition 2024
operculum
operculum
English
Noun
operculum (plural opercula)
- A covering flap or lidlike structure in plants and animals, such as a gill cover
Translations
covering flap
Latin
Etymology
From operiō (“I close”) + -culum.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /oˈper.ku.lum/, [ɔˈpɛr.kʊ.ɫũ]
Noun
operculum n (genitive operculī); second declension
Inflection
Second declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | operculum | opercula |
| genitive | operculī | operculōrum |
| dative | operculō | operculīs |
| accusative | operculum | opercula |
| ablative | operculō | operculīs |
| vocative | operculum | opercula |
References
- operculum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- operculum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “operculum”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- operculum in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers