Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A large opening in a sponge, through which water is expelled.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In sponges, a mouth or principal exhalent aperture; one of the orifices by which water is expelled. See cuts under Porifera and Spongilla.
  • noun One of the suckers, bothria, or fossettes on the head of a tapeworm, by means of which the animal attaches itself to its host.
  • noun A pax: apparently an erroneous abbreviation for osculatorium.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) Same as oscule.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology the main opening in a sponge from which water is expelled.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin ōsculum, diminutive of ōs, mouth; see ōs- in Indo-European roots.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word osculum.

Examples

  • Ironically, we have no problem in the Roman categories of 'osculum' the kiss of friendship on the face or cheeks and 'basium' the kiss of affection on the lips, though the stricture, it looks like, applies to 'suavium' the lovers 'kiss of the lip-to-lip variety.

    The Times of India 2009

  • Animus conjungitur, et spiritus etiam noster per osculum effluit; alternatim se in utriusque corpus infundentes commiscent; animae potius quam corporis connectio.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • Neque prius in iis desiderium cessat dum dejectus consoletur; videre enim est ipsam arborem incurvatam, ultro ramis ab utrisque vicissim ad osculum exporrectis.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • Erat autem foede deformis, et ea forma, qua citius pueri terreri possent, quam invitari ad osculum puellae.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • Multas palmas contingens quae simul crescant, rursusque ad amantem regrediens, eamque manu attingens, quasi osculum mutuo ministrare videtur, et expediti concubitus gratiam facit.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • Jesus' General: Fighting Spongebob wherever he raises his filthy osculum

    Fighting Spongebob wherever he raises his filthy osculum 2005

  • Fighting Spongebob wherever he raises his filthy osculum

    Fighting Spongebob wherever he raises his filthy osculum 2005

  • Fighting Spongebob wherever he raises his filthy osculum

    01/16/2005 - 01/23/2005 2005

  • Fighting Spongebob wherever he raises his filthy osculum

    Archive 2005-01-16 2005

  • A mock sermon often concludes the night's proceedings, the ordinary salutation of the _osculum in tergo_ being first given.

    The Superstitions of Witchcraft Howard Williams

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.