Meaning & use
filament
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Meanings
nouncountablebiologytechnical
The slender stalk of a flower's stamen, which carries the anther at its tip.
Grammar: Countable in botany: each stamen has one filament, and a flower may have many filaments.
Patterns
- the filament of a stamen
In the lily, each filament holds up a large, pollen-covered anther.
Students labeled the filament, anther and petals on the flower diagram.
The long filament lifts the anther so wind or insects can pick up the pollen.
nouncountabletechnical
A very thin thread or fiber of any material, such as the fine wire inside a light bulb that glows when current passes through it.
Grammar: Countable and general: a filament of silk, the filament in a bulb.
Patterns
- a filament of something
The bulb stopped working because its tungsten filament had snapped.
A spider spins a single silk filament to start its web.
A 3D printer melts plastic filament and lays it down layer by layer.
Word forms
| plural | filaments |
|---|
Common combinations
- stamen filament
- The stamen filament bends under the weight of the anther.
- tungsten filament
- A tungsten filament can survive extreme heat without melting.
- glowing filament
- Through the clear glass we could see the glowing filament.
- printer filament
- He bought a spool of printer filament in bright red.
- fine filament
- The jellyfish trails a fine filament that stings its prey.
Synonyms and how they differ
- thread
- Thread is an everyday word for twisted fiber used in sewing, while filament is technical and often means a single continuous strand.
- fiber
- Fiber can be short or long and is usually part of a material, whereas a filament is typically one long unbroken strand.
- stalk
- Stalk is a general plant word for a stem; filament is the specific, thin stalk of a stamen only.
Word family
- filamentous adjective
- made of or like thin threads
- filamentary adjective
- relating to or shaped like a filament
- filar adjective
- relating to a thread or wire (rare, technical)
Commonly confused: filament or anther? filament or pistil?
filament vs anther
The anther is the pollen-making top of the stamen, while the filament is the stalk that holds it up.
filament vs pistil
The pistil is the female part of a flower; the filament belongs to the male stamen.
Practice
In a flower, which part does the filament support?
Choose one answer.
The filament is the stalk of the stamen and carries the anther, which makes pollen. Petals, roots and seed coats are not attached to it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “filament”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.