noun · 2 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
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/ˈhaɪfə/
rhymes with -aɪfə
homophone: Haifa
homophone: heifer
1
noun
Meaning 1
Any of the long, threadlike filaments that form the mycelium of a fungus.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, mycology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
any of the threadlike filaments forming the mycelium of a fungus
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: fibril, filament, strand
Narrower terms: conidiophore, rhizomorph
History
Etymology
From New Latin hypha, from Ancient Greek ὑφή (huphḗ, “web”).
Across languages
Translations
27 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Basque:
hifa
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Catalan:
hifa
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Dutch:
schimmeldraad
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Dutch:
zwamdraad
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Dutch:
hyfe
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Esperanto:
hifo
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Finnish:
sienirihma
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
French:
hyphe
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Galician:
hifa
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
German:
Hyphe
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Hungarian:
hifa
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Hungarian:
gombafonal
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Hungarian:
gombafonalak
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Indonesian:
hifa
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Indonesian:
benang jamur
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Italian:
ifa
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Māori:
torohihi
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Norwegian:
hyfe
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Occitan:
ifa
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Persian:
نَخینه
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Polish:
strzępka
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Portuguese:
hifa
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Romanian:
hifă
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Spanish:
hifa
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Swedish:
hyf
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Tagalog:
hiblay
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus
Ukrainian:
гіф
(hif)
— filament that forms the mycelium of a fungus