cilium
/ˈsɪl.i.əm/noun
cilium is spelled C-I-L-I-U-M: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cilium means “A short microscopic hairlike organelle projecting from a eukaryotic cell (such as a unicellular organism or one cell of a multicelled organism) which…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cilium is cilia.
How many letters and syllables are in cilium?
| Letters | 6: C-I-L-I-U-M |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 133,440th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cilium?
Cilium appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cilium?
- /ˈsɪl.i.əm/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cilium.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cilium
- cilia plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cilium mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A short microscopic hairlike organelle projecting from a eukaryotic cell (such as a unicellular organism or one cell of a multicelled organism) which serve either for propulsion by causing currents in the surrounding fluid or as sensors.
- 2
One of the fine hairs along an insect's wing.
- 3
One of the hairs or similar protrusions along the margin of an organ.
- 4
An eyelash.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cilium in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense hairlike organelle projecting from eukaryotic cell:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cilium come from?
Borrowed from Latin cilium (“eyelid”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).