What does "hilum" mean?

The eye of a bean or other seed; the mark or scar at the point of attachment of an ovule or seed to its base or support.

What is a synonym for "hilum"?

Common synonyms include: hilus, hilus, porta, porta.

//ˈhaɪ.ləm// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The eye of a bean or other seed; the mark or scar at the point of attachment of an ovule or seed to its base or support.
"The hilum is very prominent in some species and nearly flat in others."
2
(anatomy) a depression or fissure where vessels or nerves or ducts enter a bodily organ wordnet
3
The nucleus of a starch grain.
"In central hilum starch grains the grain is laid down around the hilum in the form of concentric layers."
4
the scar on certain seeds marking its point of attachment to the funicle wordnet
5
A depression or fissure through which ducts, nerves, or blood vessels enter and leave a gland or organ.
"[The pancreas] is a hook-shaped gland, about 15 cm long, that lies transversely across the upper abdomen, with the head in the C-shaped curve of the duodenum[…], extending to the left as the body behind the stomach and ending as the tail lying against the hilum of the spleen."

"The hilum is very prominent in some species and nearly flat in others."

Learned borrowing from Latin hīlum (“a trifle; a spot on a seed”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.