Search Result for "velum": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. a membranous covering attached to the immature fruiting body of certain mushrooms;
[syn: veil, velum]

2. a muscular flap that closes off the nasopharynx during swallowing or speaking;
[syn: soft palate, velum]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Veil \Veil\ (v[=a]l), n. [OE. veile, OF. veile, F. voile, L. velum a sail, covering, curtain, veil, probably fr. vehere to bear, carry, and thus originally, that which bears the ship on. See Vehicle, and cf. Reveal.] [Written also vail.] [1913 Webster] 1. Something hung up, or spread out, to intercept the view, and hide an object; a cover; a curtain; esp., a screen, usually of gauze, crape, or similar diaphnous material, to hide or protect the face. [1913 Webster] The veil of the temple was rent in twain. --Matt. xxvii. 51. [1913 Webster] She, as a veil down to the slender waist, Her unadorn['e]d golden tresses wore. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. A cover; a disguise; a mask; a pretense. [1913 Webster] [I will] pluck the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. (Bot.) (a) The calyptra of mosses. (b) A membrane connecting the margin of the pileus of a mushroom with the stalk; -- called also velum. [1913 Webster] 4. (Eccl.) A covering for a person or thing; as, a nun's veil; a paten veil; an altar veil. [1913 Webster] 5. (Zool.) Same as Velum, 3. [1913 Webster] To take the veil (Eccl.), to receive or be covered with, a veil, as a nun, in token of retirement from the world; to become a nun. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Velum \Ve"lum\, n.; pl. Vela. [L., an awning, a veil. See Veil.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Anat.) A curtain or covering; -- applied to various membranous partitions, especially to the soft palate. See under Palate. [1913 Webster] 2. (Bot.) (a) See Veil, n., 3 (b) . (b) A thin membrane surrounding the sporocarps of quillworts Isoetes). [1913 Webster] 3. (Zool.) A veil-like organ or part. Especially: (a) The circular membrane that partially incloses the space beneath the umbrella of hydroid medusae. (b) A delicate funnel-like membrane around the flagellum of certain Infusoria. See Illust. a of Protozoa. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

velum n 1: a membranous covering attached to the immature fruiting body of certain mushrooms [syn: veil, velum] 2: a muscular flap that closes off the nasopharynx during swallowing or speaking [syn: soft palate, velum]