Plural of cilium; tiny hair-like structures that stick out from cells and can move back and forth to help push fluids or particles.
From Latin cilium meaning 'eyelash,' because under early microscopes these structures resembled small hairs or lashes.
Cilia are literally everywhere inside your body—in your lungs, your ears, your reproductive system—and they're constantly working like microscopic oars. Some organisms like paramecia are covered in thousands of cilia and can swim by coordinating them in waves, which is one of nature's most elegant mechanical systems.
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