Pilus
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A hair.
- 2 hairlike structure especially on the surface of a cell or microorganism wordnet
- 3 A hairlike appendage found on the cell surface of many bacteria.
- 4 any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal wordnet
- 5 A bacterial protein that has several biochemical functions.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pile.