Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The scar on a seed, such as a bean, indicating the point of attachment to the funiculus.
- noun The nucleus of a starch grain.
- noun The area through which ducts, nerves, or blood vessels enter and leave a gland or organ.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In botany, originally, the eye of a bean; hence, the mark or scar on a seed produced by separation from its placenta.
- noun In zoology and anatomy, some part or thing like the hilum of a seed, as a scar, pit, recess, or opening for entrance or exit.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) 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; -- called also
hile . - noun (Anat.) The part of a gland, or similar organ, where the blood vessels and nerves enter; the hilus.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun botany 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. - noun botany The nucleus of a starch grain.
- noun anatomy A depression or fissure through which
ducts ,nerves , orblood vessels enter and leave agland ororgan . Also calledporta .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the scar on certain seeds marking its point of attachment to the funicle
- noun (anatomy) a depression or fissure where vessels or nerves or ducts enter a bodily organ
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The hilum is a small pore through which water can pass directly to the embryo; it and the seed coat control the rate at which dry beans and peas absorb water and soften during cooking.
On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004
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The hilum is a small pore through which water can pass directly to the embryo; it and the seed coat control the rate at which dry beans and peas absorb water and soften during cooking.
On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004
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The area where the seed was attached to the ovary, known as the hilum
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This scar, also called hilum, is where the seed was attached to the seed vessel.
The First Book of Farming Charles Landon Goodrich
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It consists of a gray folded lamina arranged in the form of an incomplete capsule, opening medially by an aperture called the hilum emerging from the hilum are numerous fibers which collectively constitute the peduncle of the olive.
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A little below the apex, and near the anterior border of the gland, is a short furrow termed the hilum, from which the suprarenal vein emerges to join the inferior vena cava.
XI. Splanchnology. 1F. The Chromaphil and Cortical Systems 1918
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Or Hilary is said of hilum, which is to say dark matter, for he had in his dictes great obscurity and profoundness.
The Golden Legend, vol. 2 1230-1298 1900
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It has an eye-like anthocyanin pigmentation around the hilum, and a distinctive aroma.
On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004
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Initially water can enter only through the hilum, the little pore on the curved back of the bean.
On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004
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It has an eye-like anthocyanin pigmentation around the hilum, and a distinctive aroma.
On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004
reesetee commented on the word hilum
The scar on a seed marking the place where it was attached to the seed stalk.
November 14, 2007