Definition of "glossa" [‖Glos•sa]

• Anatomy The tongue. (noun)
• Zoology A tonguelike structure in the labium of an insect. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And it is in this last sense that Christian writers have principally employed the word glossa, gloss, in connexion with Holy Writ."
• "In the course of time Greek grammarians, commenting on the works of Greek authors, used the word glossa to designate first a word of the text which needed some explanation, and next the explanation itself."
• ""glossa" and "tongue": corresponds to the united laciniae of right and left maxillae: see also elytral ligula."