hilum
/ˈhʌɪləm
/noun (plural hila /ˈhʌɪlə/) Botany
1The scar on a seed marking the point of attachment to its seed vessel.A hilar groove is located at the centre of the seed hilum area, and consists of more elongated macrosclereids....
- Additional indicators are harvesting seed with bleeding hila and having green stem at harvest.
- The ‘black eye’ of the common variety is the hilum, or attachment point of the pea to the pod.
1.1A point in a starch granule around which the layers of starch are deposited.
1.2 Anatomy another term for hilus.The anterior apical and tumor was palpable within the hilum and appeared to be centered in the hilum of the left lung....
- The median sternotomy is used to gain access to the anterior mediastinum, heart, great vessels, hila and pleural spaces.
- These arterioles frequently showed continuity at the glomerular hilum with segmental necrotizing glomerular lesions.
Origin
Mid 17th century (in the Latin sense): from Latin, literally 'little thing, trifle', once thought to mean 'that which sticks to a bean', hence the current sense (mid 18th century).