Webster's English Dictionary

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filament

fil.a.ment \'fil-*-m*nt\ \.fil-*-'ment-*-re-, -'men-tre-\ \-'ment-*s\ n 
   [MF, fr. ML filamentum, fr. LL filare] : a single thread or a thin flexible 
   threadlike object, process, or append age : as : a tenuous conductor (as of 
   carbon or metal) made incandescent by the pa ssage of an electric current; 
   specif : a cathode in the form of a metal wire in an electron tube : the 
   anther-bearing stalk of a stamen  - fil.a.men.ta.ry aj