Meanings
plural fimbriae · plural fimbriæ
- A series of threads or other projections resembling a fringe.
- plural normallyanatomyAn individual thread in a fimbria, especially a fingerlike projection around the ovarian end of the Fallopian tube.
When a follicle is mature, the egg within it bursts out of the ovary, and the Fallopian tube's fingerlike fimbria reach out and grab it.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA hairlike appendage found on the cell surface of many bacteria; used by the bacteria to adhere to one another, to animal cells and to some inanimate objects.
Origin
- Latinfimbriae“fibers, threads, fringe”
- Late Latinfimbria“a border, fringe”
- Englishfimbria
Learned borrowing from Late Latin fimbria (“a border, fringe”), from Latin fimbriae (“fibers, threads, fringe”). Doublet of fringe.
More words from Late Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian фимбрия
- фимбрия (fimbrija)anatomy
Catalan fímbria, fímbria
- fímbriaanatomy
- fímbriabacteriology
Finnish värekarva
- värekarvabacteriology
Portuguese fímbria
- fímbriaanatomy
Spanish fimbria
- fimbriaanatomy
Cite this entry
fimbria. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fimbria
“fimbria.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fimbria. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fimbria,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fimbria.
Source: fimbria on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.