cilium

Borrowed from Latin cilium (“eyelid”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪl.i.əm/
• Rhymes: -ɪliəm

cilium (plural cilia)

1. (cytology) A short microscopic hairlike organelle projecting from a eukaryotic cell (such as a unicellular organism or one cell of a multicelled organism) which serve either for propulsion by causing currents in the surrounding fluid or as sensors.

   Hyponym: primary cilium

2. (entomology) One of the fine hairs along an insect's wing.
3. (botany) Hairs or similar protrusions along the margin of an organ.
4. (anatomy) An eyelash.

• ciliolum

• supercilium

• flagellum

• “cilium”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “cilium”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-yo-m, which is derived from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Alternatively compare Ancient Greek κῠ́λᾱ (kúlā).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈki.li.um/, [ˈkɪlʲiʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃi.li.um/, [ˈt͡ʃiːlium]

cilium n (genitive ciliī or cilī); second declension

1. (anatomy) eyelid

   Synonym: palpebra

   1. (transferred sense) lower eyelid

      Antonym: supercilium

2. (Medieval Latin, usually in the plural) eyelash

   Synonym: palpebra

Second-declension noun (neuter).

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

• ciliāris (adjective)
• intercilium
• supercilium

• “cilium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cilium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• cilium in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016