papilla

Definitions

  • WordNet 3.6
    • n papilla a small projection of tissue at the base of a hair or tooth or feather
    • n papilla a small nipple-shaped protuberance concerned with taste, touch, or smell "the papillae of the tongue"
    • n papilla (botany) a tiny outgrowth on the surface of a petal or leaf
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • n Papilla Any minute nipplelike projection; as, the papillæ of the tongue.
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • n papilla A pap, teat, or nipple of a mammary gland; a mammilla.
    • n papilla Hence Something like a papilla; a papilliform part or process. In anatomy, any mammillary process, generally of small size, soft texture, and sensitive, and subserving a tactile function: as, the papillæ of the tongue; the papillæ of the finger-tips.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • n Papilla pa-pil′a one of the minute elevations on the skin, esp. on the upper surface of the tongue and on the tips of the fingers, and in which the nerves terminate:
    • n Papilla pa-pil′a (bot.) a nipple-like protuberance
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Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
L., a nipple, pimple
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
L., a small pustule, dim. of papula.

Usage

In literature:

The earth is all alive and covered with papillae.
"Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau
The hind quarters emerge, displaying their papillae.
"The Life of the Fly" by J. Henri Fabre
By the inflation of its body, the papillae, with which the skin is covered, become erect and pointed.
"A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World" by Charles Darwin
Study the papillae on the palms.
"A Practical Physiology" by Albert F. Blaisdell
This bursts and exposes the papillae of the skin, which are of a greenish hue.
"Manual of Surgery" by Alexis Thomson and Alexander Miles
The root of the tongue was covered with large and rather hard papillae, with open summits.
"North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826" by Various
The blood vessels form dense capillary plexuses in the corium, terminating by loops in the papillae.
"Special Report on Diseases of Cattle" by U.S. Department of Agriculture
Each PAPILLA is composed of a minute artery, vein, and nerve.
"A Treatise on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene (Revised Edition)" by Calvin Cutter
In any case they are well marked by the large papillae already referred to.
"The North American Slime-Moulds" by Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
The smallest candle fills a mile with its rays, and the papillae of a man run out to every star.
"The Voice of Science in Nineteenth-Century Literature" by Various
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In poetry:

INTER marmoreas Leonorae pendula colles
Fortunata mmis Machina dicit horas.
Quas manibus premit ilia duas insensa papillas
Cur mihi sit digito tangere, amata, nefas?
"In Horologium" by Percy Bysshe Shelley

In news:

And so we've gone from horny papillae to faithful partners—from polygamy to monogamous humanity.
slate.com
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