Fibre

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfaɪ.bə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A delicate, elongated element present in organisms
2. A substance derived from plants that supports digestive health
3. A slender strand that makes up natural or synthetic materials ; the component in plants that helps maintain healthy digestion

Etymology: The Latin "fibra" meant a filament or thread, a sense that survives in the English word's basic idea of a thread-like strand. In classical Latin it referred to the stringy parts of things, and it passed into French as "fibre," then into English, where it was used for threads and strands of tissue long before anyone thought of it in the context of diet. The dietary sense is a modern development. Once the word was established for the thread-like structures in plants and animals, it came to be applied to the indigestible, stringy material in plant foods, the part that passes through the gut largely unbroken. The meaning shifted from a physical strand to a nutritional category, so that a food can now be described as high in fibre even though nobody sees a single thread in it.

Synonyms: strand, thread, filament, material, textile

Antonyms: solid, lump