Definition of "osculum" [‖Os•cu•lum]

• The mouthlike opening in a sponge, used to expel water. (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.

• "Ironically, we have no problem in the Roman categories of 'osculum' the kiss of friendship on the face or cheeks and 'basium' the kiss of affection on the lips, though the stricture, it looks like, applies to 'suavium' the lovers 'kiss of the lip-to-lip variety."
• "Erat autem foede deformis, et ea forma, qua citius pueri terreri possent, quam invitari ad osculum puellae."
• "Multas palmas contingens quae simul crescant, rursusque ad amantem regrediens, eamque manu attingens, quasi osculum mutuo ministrare videtur, et expediti concubitus gratiam facit."