filament
/ˈfɪləmənt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.09 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Such a wire, as can be heated until it glows, in an incandescent light bulb or a thermionic valve.
noun
A massive, thread-like structure, such as those gaseous ones which extend outward from the surface of the sun, or such as those (much larger) ones which form the boundaries between large voids in the universe.
noun
The stalk of a flower stamen, supporting the anther.
Example Sentences
- "Lighting was unimaginative for the standard stock with naked tungsten filament bulbs and metal reflectors. However, all compartments had individual reading lights above the seats with attractive glass shades."
- "solar filament"
- "galaxy filament"
- "the Ursa Major Filament"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-der. Proto-Italic *fī(s)lom Latin fīlum Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Late Latin fīlō Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Medieval Latin fīlāmentumbor. English filament Borrowed from Medieval Latin fīlāmentum, from Late Latin fīlō (“to spin, draw out in a long line”), from Latin fīlum (“thread”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: fīlāmentum, fīlō, fīlum
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.