umbilicus

Meaning

Noun

• navel
• hilum
• A depression or opening in the center of the base of many spiral shells.
• Either of the two apertures in the calamus of a feather.
• A tube connecting an astronaut or spacecraft to the mothership, through which supplies and samples can be transferred.
• One of the foci of an ellipse or other curve.
• A point of a surface at which the curvatures of the normal sections are all equal to each other.
• An ornamented or painted ball or boss fastened at each end of the stick on which manuscripts were rolled.

Related

Similar words

• omphalos
• omphalus

Origin

• Borrowed from Latin umbilīcus ("navel").