pilus

C2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈpaɪləs/ UK /ˈpaɪləs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
A hair.

In anatomical Latin and technical English, a pilus is a single hair.
2

noun
A hairlike appendage found on the cell surface of many bacteria.

A bacterial pilus can help a cell attach to a surface.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a hairlike appendage found... fimbria

Word family

Forms pili

Derived forms pilinpseudopilus

Related forms flagellum

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pile.

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

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