velum

See also: vellum

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin velum (“veil, sail”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈviːləm/, /ˈvɛləm/

Noun

velum (plural vela or velums)

1. A thin membrane, resembling a veil, such as:
   1. (anatomy) The soft palate.
   2. (botany) A thin membrane partially covering the cluster of sporangia near the leaf base in quillworts and their extinct relatives.
   3. (mycology) A veil-like membrane of immature mushrooms extending from the margin of the cap to the stem and is torn by growth, to reveal the gills.
   4. (malacology) A locomotory and feeding organ provided with cilia found in the larval stage of bivalves.
   5. (zoology) A circular membrane around the cap of a medusa.
   6. A delicate membrane found on certain protists.
2. (meteorology) An accessory cloud resembling a veil extending over a large distance. Normally associated with cumulus and cumulonimbus.

Related terms

• velar

Anagrams

• mvule

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Latin

vēla rubra (red sails)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *weg- (“to weave a web”) or *weǵʰ- (“to ride”), thus "that which propels" (compare its diminutive noun vexillum, as in pālus, paxillus). If the latter, a direct cognate is Proto-Slavic *veslo (“oar”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈweː.lum/, [ˈweː.ɫʊ̃]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Noun

vēlum n (genitive vēlī); second declension

1. the sail of a ship
2. a cloth, curtain, veil, awning
   • Dig. 30, 1, 41, § 10 Ulpianus libro vicesimo primo ad Sabinum

     Sed si cancelli sint vel vela, legari poterunt, non tamen fistulae vel castelli.

     But while bar-doors or their veils can be legated, not so water-pipes or water-basins.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vēlum	vēla
Genitive	vēlī	vēlōrum
Dative	vēlō	vēlīs
Accusative	vēlum	vēla
Ablative	vēlō	vēlīs
Vocative	vēlum	vēla

Derived terms

• vēlāris
• vēlārium
• vēlārius
• vēlifer
• vēlificātiō
• vēlificium

• vēlificō
• vēlificor
• vēlificus
• vēliger
• vexillum

Related terms

• vēlābrum
• vēlāmen
• vēlāmentum

• vēlātiō
• vēlātō
• vēlō

Descendants

• Italian: velo
• Old French: voil, veil
  • → English: veil
  • French: voile
    • → English: voile
      • → Irish: voil
    • → Italian: voile
    • → Romanian: voal
    • → Russian: вуаль (vualʹ)
  • Norman: vouaile
• Old Occitan:
  • Catalan: vel
  • Occitan: vel
• Old Portuguese: veo
  • Portuguese: véu
• Old Spanish:
  • Spanish: velo
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansch: vel
• → Albanian: vel
• → English: velum
• → Romanian: văl
• ⇒ Latin: vēla pl
  • Dalmatian: vaila
  • Italian: vela
    • → Romanian: velă
  • Old French: voile, veile, veille
    • French: voile
    • Norman: vaile
  • Old Leonese:
    • Asturian: vela
    • Mirandese: bela
  • Old Occitan:
    • Catalan: vela
    • Occitan: vela
  • Old Spanish:
    • Spanish: vela
      • Chamicuro: wela
  • Rhaeto-Romance:
    • Friulian: vele
    • Romansch: vela
  • Sardinian: vela, bela
  • → Old Portuguese: vela
    • Galician: vela
    • Portuguese: vela

References

• velum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• velum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• velum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• velum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to put to sea: vela in altum dare (Liv. 25. 27)
    
  • (ambiguous) to set the sails: vela facere, pandere
    
  • (ambiguous) to set the sails: vela dare
    
  • (ambiguous) to furl the sails: vela contrahere (also metaph.)
    
  • (ambiguous) sails and rigging: vela armamentaque
    
• velum in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers