Lenticules

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small bodies or structures shaped like a tiny biconvex lens, found in nature or in optical and biological settings
2. Tiny lens-shaped formations, such as small refractive structures in tissue or minute lens-like elements in an optical or mineral context
3. Minute, lens-shaped bodies or structures, often a small biconvex mass within a larger material or organism

Etymology: "Lenticules" is the plural of "lenticule", a small lens-shaped body or structure. The singular is formed from the Latin "lenticula", a diminutive of "lens", meaning "lentil", since the seed's flattened, biconvex shape resembled a lens. The Latin "lens" is the same word that gave English its optical term, so the plural points back to a lentil-shaped seed as the original image. A lenticule is therefore a little lens, and the plural simply refers to more than one of these small lens-shaped bodies.