flagellum Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a whip used to inflict punishment (often used for pedantic humor)
    scourge.
  2. noun a lash-like appendage used for locomotion (e.g., in sperm cells and some bacteria and protozoa)

WordNet

Fla*gel"lum noun
Etymology
L., a whip. See Flagellate, v. t.
Wordforms
plural E Flagellums L Flagella
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) A young, flexible shoot of a plant; esp., the long trailing branch of a vine, or a slender branch in certain mosses.
  2. (Zoöl.) (a) A long, whiplike cilium. See Flagellata. (b) An appendage of the reproductive apparatus of the snail. (c) A lashlike appendage of a crustacean, esp. the terminal ortion of the antennæ and the epipodite of the maxilipeds. See Maxilliped.

Webster 1913