pilus

See also: Piluś

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pile.

Noun

pilus (plural pili)

1. A hair.
2. (microbiology) A hairlike appendage found on the cell surface of many bacteria.
3. (biochemistry) A bacterial protein that has several biochemical functions

Synonyms

• (hairlike appendage): fimbria

See also

• flagellum
• pilus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Pulis, pulis, pusil

Dutch

Noun

pilus m (plural pili)

1. pilus (bacterial appendage)

Estonian

Noun

pilus

1. inessive singular of pilu

Latin

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Older sources reconstruct Proto-Indo-European *pilo- (“hair”), with Latin pilleus (“felt cap”), Ancient Greek πῖλος (pîlos, “wool or hair wrought into felt”), Proto-Slavic *pьlstь (“felt”) as cognates, but this is no longer accepted.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.lus/, [ˈpɪɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.lus/, [ˈpiːlus]

Noun

pilus m (genitive pilī); second declension

1. (anatomy) A hair.

   Synonym: capillus

2. (figuratively) An insignificant amount; iota; least amount

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pilus	pilī
Genitive	pilī	pilōrum
Dative	pilō	pilīs
Accusative	pilum	pilōs
Ablative	pilō	pilīs
Vocative	pile	pilī

Derived terms

• pila
• pilleus
• pilō
• pilōsus
• dēpilātus

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: per
  • Megleno-Romanian: per
  • Istro-Romanian: per
  • Romanian: păr
• Dalmatian:
  • pail
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: pelo
  • Neapolitan: pilo
  • Sicilian: pilu
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: pilu, piu
• North Italian:
  • Gallo-Italic:
    • Emilian: pèil, päil, pel
    • Ligurian: pèi
    • Lombard: pel, pil
    • Piedmontese: pèil, pèi
    • Romagnol: pél, päil
  • Friulian: pêl
  • Romansch: pail, peil, pel
  • Venetian: péło
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: pêl
  • Old French: peil, poil
    • French: poil ⇒ pelage
      • → English: pelage
    • Norman: pé
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Catalan: pèl
  • Occitan: pel
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: pelu, pelo
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: pelo (/l/ likely kept by analogy with cabelo)
    • Galician: pelo
    • Portuguese: pelo
  • Spanish: pelo
• Borrowings:
  • → English: pile (fine underfur of certain animals)
  • → Ido: pilo

Etymology 2

From pīlum (“javelin”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpiː.lus/, [ˈpiːɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.lus/, [ˈpiːlus]

Noun

pīlus m (genitive pīlī); second declension

1. A maniple of the triāriī; a reserve company of veteran soldiers.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pīlus	pīlī
Genitive	pīlī	pīlōrum
Dative	pīlō	pīlīs
Accusative	pīlum	pīlōs
Ablative	pīlō	pīlīs
Vocative	pīle	pīlī

Synonyms

• pīlum

Derived terms

• prīmus pīlus

Further reading

• “pilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pilus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• pilus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.