In 1884, Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, demonstrated the first working example of an espresso machine.
OPERCULUMS
OPERCULUM
O*per"cu*lum, n.; pl. L. Opercula, E. Operculums. Etym: [L., a cover or lid, fr. operire to cover.]
1. (Bot.) (a) The lid of a pitcherform leaf. (b) The lid of the urnlike capsule of mosses.
2. (Anat.) (a) Any lidlike or operculiform process or part; as, the opercula of a dental follicle. (b) The fold of integument, usually supported by bony plates, which protects the gills of most fishes and some amphibians; the gill cover; the gill lid. (c) The principal opercular bone in the upper and posterior part of the gill cover.
3. (Zoöl.) (a) The lid closing the aperture of various species of shells, as the common whelk. See Illust. of Gastropoda. (b) Any lid-shaped structure closing the aperture of a tube or shell.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
25 November 2024
ONCHOCERCIASIS
(noun) infestation with slender threadlike roundworms (filaria) deposited under the skin by the bite of black fleas; when the eyes are involved it can result in blindness; common in Africa and tropical America
Coffee Trivia
