alula
/ˈæljuːlə/
alula noun: a small projection of three or four feathers on the first digit of the wing on some birds.
Noun (1)
alula (plural alulae or alulas)
- A small projection of three or four feathers on the first digit of the wing on some birds.
- More recently, the upturned wing tips of jet aircraft mimic the "fingers" of birds' terminal primary feathers, and the slotted leading edges of aircraft wings are directly copied from the alula ("thumb" wings) in birds.2021, Peter Cavanagh, “Preface”, in 100 Flying Birds: Photographing the Mechanics of Flight, →ISBN, page 10
- On the wing, even the tiny “thumb feather” or alula can be seen.2017 June 28, Hanneke Meijer, The Guardian
- Synonyms:
- bastard wing
Noun (2)
alula (plural alulas)
- A flower, a species of Hawaiian lobelioid.
- Synonyms:
- vulcan palm, cabbage on a stick, Brighamia insignis, B. insignis, insignis
Synonyms of alula
- bastard wing
- vulcan palm
- cabbage on a stick
- Brighamia insignis
- B. insignis
- insignis
Forms of alula
| plural | alulae |
|---|---|
| plural | alulas |
Origin of alula
From Latin ala (“wing”) + English -ula.
Borrowed from Hawaiian ʻŌlulu.
Words formed from alula
Phrases with alula
Questions about alula
- What does alula mean?
- Alula means a small projection of three or four feathers on the first digit of the wing on some birds.
- What part of speech is alula?
- Alula is a noun.
- How do you pronounce alula?
- Alula is pronounced /ˈæljuːlə/.
- What is the plural of alula?
- The plural of alula is alulae.
Words near alula in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: alula (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-alula.ogg.
Cite this entry: “alula.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alula. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.