n., pl., -mel·lae (-mĕl'ē'), or -mel·las.
A thin scale, plate, or layer of bone or tissue, as in the gills of a bivalve mollusk or around the minute vascular canals in bone.
[Latin lāmella, small thin plate, diminutive of lāmina, thin plate.]
lamellar la·mel'lar adj.lamellarly la·mel'lar·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
