Flagellum

[fluh-jel-uh m] /fləˈdʒɛl əm/

noun, plural flagella
[fluh-jel-uh] /fləˈdʒɛl ə/ (Show IPA), flagellums.
1.
Biology. a long, lashlike appendage serving as an organ of locomotion in protozoa, sperm cells, etc.
2.
Botany. a runner.
3.
Also called clavola. Entomology. (in an antenna) the whiplike portion above the basal joints.
4.
a whip or lash.
/fləˈdʒɛləm/
noun (pl) -la (-lə), -lums
1.
(biology) a long whiplike outgrowth from a cell that acts as an organ of locomotion: occurs in some protozoans, gametes, spores, etc
2.
(botany) a long thin supple shoot or runner
3.
(zoology) the terminal whiplike part of an arthropod’s appendage, esp of the antenna of many insects
n.

1852, in reference to microbes, from Latin flagellum “whip, scourge,” diminutive of flagrum “whip,” from PIE root *bhlag- “to strike.”

flagellum fla·gel·lum (flə-jěl’əm)
n. pl. fla·gel·la (-jěl’ə)
A threadlike appendage, especially a whiplike extension of certain cells or organisms that functions as an organ of locomotion.
fla·gel’lar (-jěl’ər) adj.
flagellum
(flə-jěl’əm)
Plural flagella
A slender whiplike part extending from some single-celled organisms, such as the dinoflagellates, that moves rapidly back and forth to impart movement to the organism.