Added 9 October 2026
capillary
/kəˈpɪl.ə.ɹi/ adjective
Latin root: capillāris Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about capillary at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Resembling or pertaining to hair, especially in slenderness or fineness.
- Of or pertaining to a narrow tube.
- Of, relating to, or caused by surface tension.
noun
- Any of the small blood vessels (from 5 to 10 micrometres/micrometers (μm) in diameter) that connect arteries to veins (They are the smallest blood vessels in the body: they convey blood between the arterioles and venules).
- A tube or channel having a very small internal diameter, through which liquid can rise or be drawn by capillary action.
Origin
From Latin capillāris (“pertaining to the hair”), from capillus (“the hair, properly of the head”), from caput (“head”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)