What does glomerule mean?
A glomerule is a small, ball-like cluster with two principal uses. In medicine and anatomy, it denotes a microscopic filtering unit in a kidney. It contains a tuft of capillaries, where blood is filtered under pressure; the resulting filtrate passes into Bowman’s capsule and then toward the renal tubules. Damage to these structures can impair kidney function, which is why glomerular diseases receive close clinical attention. In botany, a glomerule is a compact, head-like cluster of flowers, often with the individual flowers attached on very short stalks. The word is therefore specialized rather than everyday, but it is useful because it identifies a recognizable biological structure rather than a vague collection. The Latin-derived form glomerulus is also common in anatomical and medical writing. Both words ultimately mean “small ball,” an apt description of the rounded capillary tuft and the dense floral head.
nounA glomerule is a small, compact, roughly spherical biological structure. In the kidney it is a microscopic filtering unit containing a tuft of blood capillaries; in botany it is a dense, head-like cluster of flowers.
- Anatomy: One of the kidney’s microscopic filtering units, containing a tuft of blood capillaries enclosed by Bowman’s capsule.
- Botany: A compact, head-like cluster of flowers, often with the individual flowers borne on very short stalks.
"Each glomerule filters blood through a delicate tuft of capillaries before the fluid passes into the kidney tubules."
"Each renal glomerule filters blood as it passes through a tuft of capillaries."
"The plant bears tiny yellow flowers arranged in dense glomerules at the ends of its branches."
The standard plural is glomerules; glomeruli also occurs as a Latinized medical form, but it is not required in ordinary English.
"Each kidney contains millions of glomerules."
Its name means “small ball”—and a kidney glomerule really is a tiny ball of filtering capillaries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does glomerule come from?
Glomerule comes from Latin glomerulus, literally “small ball,” a diminutive of glomus, meaning “ball.” English borrowed the form for anatomical and botanical structures. Related English words including glomerate, conglomerate, and agglomerate continue the same Latin root and its sense of forming or gathering into a rounded mass.
Related word forms
How glomerule is actually used
The term is highly technical in medicine and descriptive in botany. It is uncommon in general prose but familiar in discussions of renal physiology, kidney disease, and plant inflorescences.
Easily confused with glomerule
The English term glomerule and the Latin-derived anatomical form glomerulus are often used interchangeably, with glomerulus being especially common in clinical writing.