Standard Lemma guide

ciliary

adj · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsɪl.i.ə.ɹi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈsɪl.iˌɛɹ.i/
  • rhymes with -ɪliəɹi
  • rhymes with -ɪliɛəɹi

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of, pertaining to or involving cilia.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, relational

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

Examples

  • ciliary movement

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of or pertaining to the eyelashes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, relational

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Of or pertaining to the eyelid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, relational

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Of or pertaining to the ciliary body.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, relational

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

Examples

  • ciliary muscles

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

of or relating to the human eyelash

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ciliate

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective

Meaning 6

of or relating to cilia projecting from the surface of a cell

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ciliate, cilial

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective

Meaning 7

relating to the ciliary body and associated structures of the eye

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin ciliumbor. English cilium Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusder. Middle English -arie English -ary English ciliary From cilium + -ary.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: ciliar — of or pertaining to the eyelashes
  • Chinese Mandarin: 睫狀 /睫状 (jiézhuàng) — of or pertaining to the eyelashes
  • Czech: ciliární — of or pertaining to the eyelashes
  • Ido: ciliara — of or pertaining to the eyelashes
  • Irish: fabhraíoch — of or pertaining to the eyelashes
  • Polish: rzęsowy — of or pertaining to the eyelashes
  • Spanish: ciliar — of or pertaining to the eyelashes