English

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 round the cap of 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

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).

Alternative forms

• uelum

Pronunciation

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

Noun

vēlum n ‎(genitive vēlī); second declension

1. the sail of a ship
2. a cloth, curtain, veil, awning

Inflection

Second declension.

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

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)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “velum”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, 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