operculum

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin operculum. === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /əʊˈpɜː.kjʊ.ləm/ (US) IPA(key): /oʊˈpɝ.kjə.ləm/ === Noun === operculum (plural opercula) (zoology) A covering flap in animals, such as a gill cover. (botany) The lidlike portion of a moss sporangium or of a fruit that detaches to allow the dispersal of spores or seeds. (dentistry) A gum flap covering (part of) a partially erupted tooth, usually a wisdom tooth. A structure which serves as a cover or lid. (anatomy) One of several flaps of cerebral cortex covering the insula. (clarification of this definition is needed.) ==== Derived terms ==== operculiferous operculitis preoperculum interoperculum suboperculum ==== Related terms ==== opercle ==== Translations ==== == Latin == === Etymology === From operiō (“to close”) +‎ -culum. === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ɔˈpɛr.kʊ.ɫũː] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [oˈpɛr.ku.lum] === Noun === operculum n (genitive operculī); second declension cover, covering ==== Declension ==== Second-declension noun (neuter). ==== Descendants ==== → English: opercle, operculum → French: opercule → Italian: opercolo → Portuguese: opérculo → Spanish: opérculo === References === “operculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “operculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers “operculum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. “operculum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers