velum

See also: vélum and vellum

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vēlum (“a cloth, covering, awning, curtain, veil”). Doublet of veil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈviː.ləm/, /ˈvɛl.əm/

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

Noun

velum (plural vela or velums)

1. A thin membrane resembling a veil or curtain, 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 annular membrane, typically bordering a cavity, especially in certain molluscs, medusae, and other invertebrates.
   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.

Derived terms

• velar (adjective)

References

• “velum”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• “velum” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.

Anagrams

• mvule

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Faroese

Noun

velum

1. indefinite dative plural of vel

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French

Alternative forms

• vélum

Etymology

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

Noun

velum m (plural velums)

1. velum

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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.ɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈve.lum/, [ˈvɛː.lum]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Noun

vēlum n (genitive vēlī); second declension

1. A cloth, covering, curtain, veil, awning.
   • a. 224, Ulpiānus, Dīgesta seu Pandectae‎^[1], volume XXX, 41.10:

     Sed sī cancellī sint vel vēla, lēgārī poterunt, nōn tamen fistulae vel castellī.

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

2. (usually in the plural) The sail of a ship.

Inflection

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

Descendants of velum in other languages

• → Albanian: vel
• → English: velum
• → Hebrew: וִילוֹן‎ (wīlṓn)
• → Italian: velo
• Latin: vēla pl
  • → Classical Syriac: ܘܝܠܐ‎ (wēlā)
  • → 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 Portuguese: vela
    • → Galician: vela
    • → Portuguese: vela
  • Rhaeto-Romance:
    • → Friulian: vele
    • → Romansch: vela
  • Sardinian: vela, bela
  • → Spanish: vela
    • → Chamicuro: wela
• 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
• → Romansch: vel
• → Romanian: văl
• → Spanish: velo

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^[2], 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