capillary English · revision 781

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kəˈpɪl.ə.ɹi/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkæpəˌlɛri/, /ˈkæpɪˌlɛɹi/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|capillaire]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|la|capillāris|t=of hair]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) from ''capillus'' “hair (of the head)”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps related to ''caput'' “head”, though de Vaan finds this unconvincing, since ''capillus'' would then mean “little head”.^(Etymonline) It replaced the earlier ''capillar'' (before 1400), borrowed directly from Latin.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of or relating to hair (1656), and hair-like, very slender (1664).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In anatomy the adjective described tubes of very minute, hair-like bore (1664),^(OED 1989) and from 1667 the noun named the minute blood vessels in which the arterial circulation ends and the veins begin.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) From 1809 it referred to the rise or fall of liquids in narrow tubes through surface tension, on the notion of “taking place in capillary vessels”,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) hence ''capillary attraction'' (1813).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1400 – ''capillar'', hair-like.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1656 – of or relating to hair.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1664 – having a hair-like bore.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1667 – noun, a minute blood vessel.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1813 – ''capillary attraction''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of the minute [[blood vessel|alt=blood vessels]] connecting the smallest [[artery|alt=arteries]] with the smallest [[vein|alt=veins]], forming networks through which oxygen and other substances pass between blood and tissues.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A tube with a very small internal diameter.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Resembling a hair; fine and slender.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Having a very small internal diameter, as ''a capillary tube''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of or relating to capillaries, or to [[capillarity]] and [[surface tension]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[intercapillary]]

+ * [[noncapillary]]

+ * [[capillarity]]

+ * [[capillary bed]]

+ * [[capillary action]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dishevelled]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}