Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A little tongue or tongue-like part or process; a ligula.
  • noun In zoology: [capitalized] The typical genus of Lingulidæ.
  • noun Pl. lingulas (-läz). Any species of the genus Lingula or family Lingulidæ; a lingulid or tongue-shell.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) A tonguelike process or part.
  • noun (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of brachiopod shells belonging to the genus Lingula, and related genera. See Brachiopoda, and Illustration in Appendix.
  • noun (Geol.) a group of strata in the lower Silurian or Cambrian system of Wales, in which some of the layers contain vast numbers of a species of Lingula.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy Any of several tongue-shaped bony structures, especially that which forms the anterior border of the mandibular foramen.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin lingula ("small tongue"), from lingua ("tongue") + -ula (diminutive suffix).

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