different between operculum vs phyrynx

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin operculum.

Noun

operculum (plural opercula)

1. (zoology) A covering flap in animals, such as a gill cover.
   • 2017, Susannah Lydon, The Guardian, 18 January:

     Hyoliths […] have a small, conical calcium carbonate shell, with a lid called an operculum.

2. (botany) The lidlike portion of a moss sporangium or of a fruit that detaches to allow the dispersal of spores or seeds.
3. (dentistry) A gum flap covering (part of) a partially erupted tooth, usually a wisdom tooth.
4. A structure which serves as a cover or lid.
   • 1901, H. G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon, chapter IX, page 95

     I lifted the circular operculum from its place and laid it carefully on the bale.

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Related terms

• opercle

Derived terms

• operculitis
• preoperculum
• interoperculum
• suboperculum

Translations

Latin

Etymology

From operi? (“I close”) +? -culum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /o?per.ku.lum/, [??p?rk??????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /o?per.ku.lum/, [??p?rkulum]

Noun

operculum n (genitive opercul?); second declension

1. 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