villus
/ˈvɪləs/ noun
Forms villi
- noun (biology) A small projection from a membrane, particularly those found in the mucous membranes of the intestines.
- noun (botany) One of the fine soft hairs on fruits, flowers, and other parts of plants.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin villus (“shaggy hair”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of the minute papillary processes on certain vascular membranes; a villosity; as, villi cover the lining of the small intestines of many animals and serve to increase the absorbing surface.
- noun pl. (Bot.)
Etymology [L., shaggy hair, a tuft of hair.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “villus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details