flabellum

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fla·bel·lum

(flə-bĕl′əm)
n. pl. fla·bel·la (-bĕl′ə)
A fan-shaped anatomical structure.

[Latin flābellum, fan, diminutive of flābra, breeze, from flāre, to blow; see bhlē- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

flabellum

(fləˈbɛləm)
n, pl -la (-lə)
1. (Zoology) a fan-shaped organ or part, such as the tip of the proboscis of a honeybee
2. (Roman Catholic Church) RC Church a large ceremonial fan
[C19: from Latin: small fan, from flābra breezes, from flāre to blow]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fla•bel•lum

(fləˈbɛl əm)

n., pl. -bel•la (-ˈbɛl ə)
1. a fan, esp. one used in religious ceremonies.
2. Biol. a fan-shaped organ or part.
[1865–70; < Latin flābellum fan, diminutive of flābra breezes, derivative of flā(re) to blow 2]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
Expanding his gaze chronologically and geographically, Mathews makes splendid use of the wall paintings in the Red Monastery at Deir Anba Bishai in Egypt, conserved since 2002, although his account of Ezekiel's vision introduces some later confusion into his discussion of the hexapteryga --the sloe-eyed, six-winged celestial creatures who support God in the pendentives of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, whom he describes as cherubim (Fig.
One of the hexapteryga (detail) in the pendentives of the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul