Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

annulus

/ˈænjələs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 2.26 in modern English

Syllables: an-nu-lus
IPA: /ˈænjələs/

7

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

3

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A ring- or donut-shaped area, object, or structure.

noun

A ring of fibrous tissue; specifically (cardiology), such a ring around an opening of a heart valve, to which the valve leaflets and muscle fibres of the atria and ventricles are attached; an annulus fibrosus cordis.

noun

A ring of light in a celestial body, especially when caused by an annular eclipse (for example, when the Sun and Moon are in line with the Earth, but the Moon does not completely cover the Sun's disc).

noun

A structure surrounding a sporangium (or part of it) which shrinks and causes it to rupture for spore dispersal; specifically, in a fern: a structure around about two-thirds of the sporangium consisting of differentially thick-walled cells which dry and distort the sporangium; and in a moss: a complete ring of cells around the tip of the sporangium which dissolves to cause the tip to detach.

noun

The membranous remnants of a partial veil which leaves a ring on the stem of a mushroom.

noun

A dark ring on a fish's scale that is formed when a fish's growth rate slows down in the winter due to low food intake and the scale's circuli move closer to one another. The dark ring is used to estimate the fish's age, approximately one year per annulus.

noun

The region in a plane between two concentric circles of different radii.

noun

Any topological space homeomorphic to the region in a plane between two concentric circles of different radii.

Example Sentences

"But by the knots I am ſpeaking of, may it pleaſe your reverences to believe, that I mean good, honeſt, deviliſh tight, hard knots, made bona fide, as Obadiah made his;—in vvhich there is no quibbling proviſion made by the duplication and return of the tvvo ends of the ſtrings through the annulus or nooſe made by the ſecond implication of them— […]"
"Pressure balance is obtained by the air pressure in the cylinder operating on a supplementary piston in the buffer piston head, transmitting pressure to a small quantity of oil which is ported to an annulus between the buffer piston seals and the cylinder wall, so that the seal is always under opposing pressures; oil on one side and air on the other."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin ānnulus, a misspelling of Latin ānulus (“ring, especially one worn on a finger”), from ānus (“ring”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eh₂-n-o- (“ring”), from an uncertain root) + -ulus (diminutive suffix). The plural form annuli is a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin ānnulī.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: ānulus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈænjələs/
British English: /ˈænjʊləs/

Inflected Forms

annuluses (plural) annuli (plural)

Derived Forms

annulotomy periannulus pseudannulus

Phrases

annulus fibrosus annulus of Zinn apical annulus attached annulus double annulus single annulus square annulus mitral annulus

Frequently Paired Words

annular annularity annularly annulary annulate annulated annulation annule

Synonyms

cylinder skirt ring halo doughnut anchor ring

Questions

How do you pronounce annulus?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈænjələs/.
What does annulus mean?: A ring- or donut-shaped area, object, or structure.
Where does annulus come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce annulus

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