CIRRUS
cirrus
(noun) a slender flexible animal appendage as on barnacles or crinoids or many insects; often tactile
cirrus, cirrus cloud
(noun) a wispy white cloud (usually of fine ice crystals) at a high altitude (4 to 8 miles)
cirrus, cirrhus
(noun) usually coiled
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
cirrus (plural cirri)
(botany) A tendril.
(zoology) A thin tendril-like appendage.
(meteorology) A principal high-level cloud type characterised by white, delicate filaments or wisps, of white (or mostly white) patches, or of narrow bands, found at an altitude of above 7000 metres.
Source: Wiktionary
Cir"rus, n.; pl. Cirri. Etym: [L., lock, curl, ringlet.] [Also
written cirrhus.]
1. (Bot.)
Definition: A tendril or clasper.
2. (Zoöl.)
(a) A soft tactile appendage of the mantle of many Mollusca, and of
the parapodia of Annelida. Those near the head of annelids are
Tentacular cirri; those of the last segment are caudal cirri.
(b) The jointed, leglike organs of Cirripedia. See Annelida, and
Polychæta.
Note: In some of the inferior animals the cirri aid in locomotion; in
others they are used in feeding; in the Annelida they are mostly
organs of touch. Some cirri are branchial in function.
3. (Zoöl.)
Definition: The external male organ of trematodes and some other worms, and
of certain Mollusca.
4. (Meteor.)
Definition: See under Cloud.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition