fibriln.
/ˈfʌɪbr(ᵻ)l/, U.S. /ˈfɪbrəl/, /ˈfaɪbrəl/ A small fibre.
1.
a. Physiology. The subdivision of a fibre (see fibre n. 2a) in a nerve, muscle, etc., and in vegetable fibres and man-made fibres.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily substance > fibre > [noun] > part of
fibril1681
1681 Table of Hard Words in S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Remaining Med. Wks. Fibrils, little small strings of fibres, or of the nerves or veins.
1726 W. Cheselden Anat. Human Body (ed. 3) iii. xv. 247 The nervous fibrils probably do not communicate.
1794 G. Adams Lect. Nat. & Exper. Philos. II. xvii. 311 The corresponding fibrils of the two retinas.
1805 Carlisle in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 96 8 Three large superficial nerves..give off fibrils at right angles.
1870 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. (ed. 2) I. i. iii. 53 An extremely delicate fibrile less than 1/ 100 of an inch in length.
b. Any thread-like molecular formation such as occurs in some colloidal systems and proteins.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical structure or stereochemistry > [noun] > molecular framework or arrangement > thread-like molecular formation
fibril1931
1931 S. S. Kistler in Colloid Symposium Monograph 63 The greater strength of the gel after it has been converted to an aerogel is doubtless due to dehydration of the fibrils.
1944 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 66 663/1 Electron micrographs of this material [sc. insulin hydro~chloride] reveal the presence of uniform fibrils several microns in length, having uniform widths of approximately 200 A (an asymmetry well above 100).
1944 E. Heuser Chem. Cellulose ii. 16 Seifriz and Hock separated wood pulp fibers into fibrils, 1·4 μ thick.
1948 A. X. Schmidt & C. A. Marlies Princ. High-polymer Theory & Pract. xi. 468 Rayons having a high order of crystallite orientation separate into fibrils under the action of appropriate chemical agents.
1959 New Scientist 5 Mar. 511/3 The crystal structure..continues..in fibrillar form, although the particular molecules of which a fibril is composed are continually changing.
1968 A. White et al. Princ. Biochem. (ed. 4) xxxviii. 874 Hydrogen and electrostatic bonds are responsible for the end-to-end alignment which results in fibrils many times longer than the tropocollagen molecule.
2. Botany. The ultimate subdivision of a root.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] > rootlet, fibre, or subsidiary root
string1398
by-root1578
fillet1601
taw1615
tapon1641
fibre1656
fang1664
fibril1664
rootlinga1706
lateral root1724
rootlet1783
radicle1793
radicel1819
viver1877
branch-root1884
sprangle1896
thong1927
1664 J. Evelyn Sylva (1776) 51 Theophrastus gives us great caution..to preserve the roots and especially the earth adhering to the smallest Fibrils.
1835 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (1848) I. 237 The minute subdivisions [of the root] have been..called radicles..others name them fibrils.
1860 D. Oliver Lessons Elem. Bot. (1873) 11 A Root..gives off fibrils irregularly.
3. Something resembling a small fibre.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > [noun] > thread-like object
thread1398
filament1594
film1597
tendril1615
fibre1827
filamentule1837
fibril1876
threadlet1882
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iii. xx. 10 Her dark hair curling in fresh fibrils as it gradually dried.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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