Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The often enlarged petal of an orchid flower.
- n. A liplike part, such as the tip of the proboscis of various insects, used for lapping up liquids.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In botany, one of the three divisions of an orchidaceous corolla, differing from the others in shape or direction, and not seldom spurred; the lip. Theoretically it is the petal nearest the axis, but by a half-twist of the ovary it becomes the outer petal, nearest the bract. The term is applicable to similar petals in other flowers. Also
label . - n. In entomology, a part of the mouth of an insect, by some considered to be the epipharynx. In Diptera the labellum is one of a pair of tumid lobes terminating the theca of the proboscis.
Wiktionary
- n. The lower central petal of orchid flowers, usually developed to be showy and attract pollinators.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) The lower or apparently anterior petal of an orchidaceous flower, often of a very curious shape.
- n. (Zoöl.) A small appendage beneath the upper lip or labrum of certain insects.
Etymologies
- From Latin labellum ("small tub or basin"), diminutive of labrum ("basin, tub"), from lavō ("bathe"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin, diminutive of labrum, lip; see leb- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Today's words Word don't know: Today I learned that the plural of labellum is labellums.”
the lights go down and it's just you up there, getting them to feel like that
“This experiment let them show that the protein was made in the fly's major taste organ (called the labellum) and trace its manufacture to a subset of sensory cells that respond to noxious chemicals.”
“Does it not imply that all that part of the labellum which is supplied by vessels coming from a lateral bundle must be part of a primordially distinct organ, however closely the two may have become united?”
“This species is apparently prone to developmental errors so that the labellum can be petaloid or (as in this case) all the petals develop the labellum (lip) characteristics.”
“An allied species with a blue labellum occurs in the collection gathered at Purdie Ponds.”
“A similar occurrence happens occasionally in _Lycaste Skinneri_, thus recalling the structure of _Masdevallia_, where the labellum is normally very small.”
Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants
“[Transcriber's note: The underscores represent a horizontal curly brace in the original.] the + indicating the position of the absent labellum.”
Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants
“The ordinary structure of the flower with its three sepals, two petals, labellum, column; and inferior ovary, is well known.”
Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants
“In _Orchidaceæ_ entire absence of the labellum, frequently without any other perceptible change, is of common occurrence.”
Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants
“Moreover, when the stamens are petalodic, the form assumed is usually that of the labellum.”
Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘labellum’.
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Even More 250 Spelling Words
Good for intermediate and advanced spellers and anybody who wants to use words with precision
frustum, mirepoix, occiput, epulis, noesis, ultimo, fipple, rapparee, zamouse, rhipidate, habile, detente and 238 more...
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A Lip
Nouns meaning a lip
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misc. plant morphology
the concise british flora in colour (w. keble martin) - glossary - edited, and to be added to
whorled, viviparous, vittae, viscid, villous, valvate, unarmed, umbellate, umbel, tubercle, triquetrous, trigonous and 135 more...
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