1. slender strand or fiber: a slender strand or fiber of a material
2. electrical engineering wire conductor in light bulb: a thin wire that produces light in an incandescent bulb or emits electrons in a vacuum tube when electricity passes through it
3. botany flower part: the stalk that supports the pollen-bearing anther in the male reproductive organ stamen of a flower. See also anther
4. microbiology long strand of cells: a long strand of similar cells joined end to end, as found in some bacteria and algae
[Late 16th century. < French, or modern Latin filamentum< Latin filum "thread"]
