Word.ws English Dictionary

hypoptilum

hypoptilum noun: an aftershaft.

Noun

hypoptilum (plural hypoptila)

  1. (rare) An aftershaft.
    • This secondary feather is known as the aftershaft or hypoptilum, and its presence or absence constitutes the most important structural difference in the feathers of existing birds.1924 October 30, W. DeW. Miller, “Variations in the structure of the aftershaft and their taxonomic value”, in American Museum Novitates, number 140
    • The feathers in some ratites are unusual as they are less reduced than is the norm in birds—each feather has, in addition to the main feather, a large “after-shaft” or hypoptilum.2016, Michael Heads, Biogeography and Evolution in New Zealand

Forms of hypoptilum

pluralhypoptila

Origin of hypoptilum

From New Latin hypoptilum, from hypo- + Ancient Greek πτίλον (ptílon, “soft feathers, down”).

Questions about hypoptilum

What does hypoptilum mean?
Hypoptilum means an aftershaft.
What part of speech is hypoptilum?
Hypoptilum is a noun.
What is the plural of hypoptilum?
The plural of hypoptilum is hypoptila.

Words near hypoptilum in the dictionary

  1. hypoprotocetraric acid
  2. hypoptera
  3. hypopteron
  4. hypopterygiaceous
  5. hypoptila
  6. hypoptilum
  7. hypoptychid
  8. hypoptychids
  9. hypopycnal
  10. hypopygial
  11. hypopygium

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hypoptilum (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.

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