follicle

fol·li·cle  (fl-kl)

n.

1. Anatomy

a. A small bodily cavity or sac.

b. A crypt or minute cul-de-sac or lacuna, such as the depression in the skin from which the hair emerges.

c. An ovarian follicle.

d. A spherical mass of cells usually containing a cavity.

2. Botany A dry, single-chambered fruit that splits along only one seam to release its seeds, as in larkspur and milkweed.

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[Latin folliculus, little bag, diminutive of follis, bellows; see bhel-² in Indo-European roots.]

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follicle

Noun

any small sac or cavity in the body, esp. one from which a hair grows [Latin folliculus small bag]

follicular adj

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follicle  (fl-kl)

1. A small, protective sac, gland, or cluster of cells in the body. In mammals, unfertilized eggs develop in follicles located in the ovaries. Hair grows from follicles in the skin.

2. A dry, dehiscent fruit that develops from a single carpel, has a single chamber, and splits open along only one seam to release its seeds. The pod of the milkweed and the fruit of the magnolia are follicles.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

follicle - any small spherical group of cells containing a cavity vesicle, cyst - a small anatomically normal sac or bladderlike structure (especially one containing fluid) hair follicle - a small tubular cavity containing the root of a hair; small muscles and sebaceous glands are associated with them Graafian follicle - a vascular body in a mammalian ovary enclosing a developing egg