Dictionary Definition
capitulum
Noun
1 a dense clusters of flowers or foliage; "a head
of cauliflower"; "a head of lettuce" [syn: head]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From lang=la
Noun
- A densely clustered inflorescence or seedhead, composed of a large number of individual flowers or seeds.
- The head-like mouthpart apparatus of a tick, including the palpi, mandibles, and hypostome.
- entomology obsolete The enlarged end of a proboscis.
- A small protuberance on a bone which articulates into another bone to form a ball-and-socket joint.
Latin
Extensive Definition
The term Capitulum can refer to several
things:
- In botany, a type of flower head where the bracts are located under the basis, such as a Daisy's
- In anatomy, the Capitulum of the humerus
- The Latin word for a Chapter
- In entomology, a structure similar to an elaiosome found on the eggs of some species of stick insects, like the genus Bacteria, which encourages ants to pick them up and carry them away. The ants bury the eggs, where they are less likely to be parasitized by wasps
- A typographic symbol which has now evolved into the pilcrow