cilium

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a microscopic hairlike projection from a eukaryotic cell, used for movement, moving fluid, or sensing the environment

   Each cilium beat in coordination to move mucus along the airway.

2. 2
   noun

   an eyelash or a fine hairlike fringe on an organism, such as the hairs along an insect wing

   Under magnification, a single cilium was visible at the edge of the insect's wing.

Borrowed through New Latin from Latin cilium, 'eyelid or eyelash.' Biologists transferred the name to microscopic cell projections because they resemble tiny eyelashes. The standard modern English plural is cilia.

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